Security WebPerf Cloudflare goes berserk on next-gen patent troll

eva2000 · May 13, 2017

Wow this patent troll will be in a world of hurt Cloudflare goes berserk on next-gen patent troll, vows to utterly destroy it using prior-art bounties

Cloudflare goes berserk on next-gen patent troll, vows to utterly destroy it using prior-art bounties

Web giant wants to invalidate Blackbird Tech's designs, get them thrown out of profession.

Cloudflare says it will go above and beyond to destroy what it claims is a uniquely dangerous patent troll.

The troll in question is Blackbird Technologies LLC, a law firm based in Boston, US. It has accused Cloudflare of ripping off a patent it owns on internet communications.

Crucially, Cloudflare CEO Matthew Prince said the battle between his company and Blackbird is over more than just one infringement claim: Blackbird's approach to poses a serious threat to other tech companies, and, we're told, it must be stopped.

"They are a very dangerous new breed of patent troll different from what we have seen before," Prince, himself a former lawyer, told The Register. "This is a perfect innovation killing machine."

Blackbird sued California-based Cloudflare in Delaware in March, alleging the web giant's technology infringes US Patent 6,453,335.

This design dates back to 1998 and was granted in 2002. It was submitted by Oliver Kaufmann, and was transferred to Blackbird in 2016. It describes "an internet third party data channel."

In plainer English, it sets out a system that injects data from a third-party source into a connection between a client and a server. Picture a web browser fetching a page from a website's server and being fed information from a second source. This sounds kinda like how Cloudflare works, but not really.
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The fight is on !

Now, instead of just fighting to invalidate the single patent in their case, Cloudflare is backing a campaign to have all of Blackbird's patent holdings – roughly 70 of them – declared invalid for future litigation.

To achieve this, Cloudflare has ring-fenced $50,000 in bounties for prior-art proof to challenge Blackbird's holdings. Of that prize pot, $20,000 will pay those who find prior art on the '335 patent, and $30,000 for other patents.

In addition, Prince says Cloudflare plans to file with the state bar associations in Illinois and Massachusetts, where Blackbird's principal attorneys reside, alleging that by owning the patents they litigate, Blackbird lawyers are committing clear ethical violations.

In the end, Cloudflare is hoping that the legal offensive sends a clear message that would-be patent trolls should steer clear.
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eva2000 · May 13, 2017

official blog post Standing Up to a Dangerous New Breed of Patent Troll

BamaStangGuy · May 13, 2017

eva2000 said: ↑

Wow this patent troll will be in a world of hurt Cloudflare goes berserk on next-gen patent troll, vows to utterly destroy it using prior-art bounties

The fight is on !
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So they will protect internet trolls and hate speech but this is bad? I think Patent Trolls are awful, just pointing out the hypocrisy.

eva2000 · May 13, 2017

BamaStangGuy said: ↑

So they will protect internet trolls and hate speech but this is bad? I think Patent Trolls are awful, just pointing out the hypocrisy.
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indeed fine line but where money talks $$$ ultimately

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