Patent System Reform & Litigation Abuse

3/26/2025

This post announces the final winners of Project Jengo for the Sable case, awarding a total of $30,000 to Jean-Pierre Le Rouzic ($10,000), George J. ($10,000), Peter S. ($5,000), and Jatin ($5,000). It details the contributions of each winner, highlighting their technical and legal expertise in identifying prior art that invalidated Sable's patents. The post also provides an update on other patent troll-related news, noting the voluntary dismissal of cases by Touchpoint Projections Innovations and PacSec3 LLC following Cloudflare's victory against Sable, suggesting a deterrent effect of Cloudflare's aggressive defense strategy.

10/2/2024

This post details Cloudflare's successful legal defense against patent troll Sable IP and Sable Networks. It highlights the trial victory where Cloudflare proved non-infringement of claim 25 of U.S. Patent No. 7,012,919 by explaining that their products (Magic Transit and Argo for Packets) handle packets individually, not 'flows' or 'micro-flows,' and do not use 'line cards' as required by the patent. Additionally, Cloudflare successfully argued that the patent claim is invalid due to obviousness in light of prior art references (Kodialam and Cheeseman). The post also emphasizes the continuation and final awards for Project Jengo, Cloudflare's prior art contest aimed at invalidating patent troll patents.

2/12/2024

This post details Cloudflare's successful defense and jury verdict against patent troll Sable IP and Sable Networks. It highlights the company's strategy of fighting meritless claims through legal defense and crowdsourcing prior art via Project Jengo. The post recaps the litigation history, including the narrowing of claims and the invalidation of two patents prior to trial. It emphasizes the technical challenges Sable faced in mapping old hardware-based router technology to Cloudflare's modern software-defined architecture and the jury's finding of no infringement and patent invalidity. The post also frames the victory as a broader statement against patent system abuse and a commitment to fostering innovation.

1/17/2023

This post announces three new winners of Project Jengo, who submitted prior art that contributed to the invalidation of Sable Networks' '593 patent and further reduced the number of claims in their lawsuit against Cloudflare. It details the specific prior art found for each winner and provides updates on the legal case, noting that two patents and a total of 14 claims remain in dispute.

5/5/2022

This post announces the winner of Round 3 of Project Jengo, Curtis Carter, who found prior art for Sable's US Patent No. 8,085,775 and US Patent No. 7,385,924. It also details the successful cancellation of Sable's '932 patent through an Inter Partes Review (IPR) at the US Patent Office, marking a significant victory against patent troll litigation abuse. The post highlights Coinbase's adoption of Cloudflare's strategy to fight patent trolls.

1/11/2022

This post details the success of Project Jengo in identifying prior art that led to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office instituting Inter Partes Review (IPR) for two Sable patents ('593 and '932) on all asserted claims. It also highlights Sable's voluntary abandonment of 34 out of 38 claims from two other patents ('919 and '431) in response to Cloudflare's IPR petitions. The post features a specific prior art submission by Jean-Pierre Le Rouzic, which identified similarities between Sable's '431 patent and US Patent No. 7,406,098, demonstrating the obviousness of Sable's claims.

8/18/2021

This post announces the first three winners of Cloudflare's Project Jengo 2, a prior art search contest aimed at invalidating patents held by a patent troll named Sable Networks. The winners received a total of $20,000 for their submissions, which included IETF RFC 2702, Ascend/Cascade products implementing IETF RFC 1953, and US Patent No. 7,107,356. The post details the motivation behind Project Jengo, the nature of the patents in question, and the contributions of each winner, emphasizing the community's role in fighting patent litigation abuse.

4/26/2021

This post announces the relaunch of Project Jengo, a crowdsourced prior art search bounty, to combat patent troll Sable Networks. It details the history of Cloudflare's fight against patent trolls, including the previous success with Project Jengo against Blackbird Technologies. The post outlines the specific Sable Networks patents being challenged and offers a $100,000 bounty for prior art submissions. It also provides background on Sable Networks and its history of patent litigation, highlighting the tenuous nature of their claims against Cloudflare.

11/4/2019

This post details Cloudflare's successful defense against a patent troll (Blackbird Technologies) and the subsequent "Project Jengo" initiative. Project Jengo involved crowdsourcing prior art to invalidate the troll's patents, leading to hundreds of submissions and the identification of damaging prior art for multiple patents. The post highlights specific examples of prior art found for patents related to internet resource retrieval, illuminated product packaging, and sports bras with storage pouches. Additionally, it describes an ex parte reexamination of patent '7,797,448' (GPS-internet Linkage) based on community prior art, which resulted in the patent's cancellation.

5/11/2018

This post marks the one-year anniversary of Project Jengo, a crowdsourced prior art search initiative launched in response to patent troll Blackbird Technologies. It details the release of approximately 200 pieces of prior art applicable to 34 Blackbird patents, intended to aid other companies facing similar litigation. The post also provides updates on legal challenges against Blackbird, including an Alice motion dismissal and an ongoing Inter Partes Review (IPR) for the '335 Patent. It highlights a successful ex parte reexamination (EPR) of Blackbird's '448 Patent, where prior art submitted by Project Jengo contributed to a Non-Final Office Action rejecting the patent. The program continues to accept prior art submissions and has awarded over $7,500 to participants, with plans for further awards.

11/20/2017

This post details Cloudflare's involvement in the Supreme Court case _Oil States Energy Services, LLC vs. Greene's Energy Group, LLC_ through an amicus brief. It argues for the constitutionality and importance of the Inter Partes Review (IPR) process at the USPTO as a mechanism to combat patent trolls. The post outlines the legal arguments against the IPR process, focusing on historical precedents of patent revocation by non-judicial bodies like the Crown's Privy Council, and contrasts this with the limited historical role of courts. It emphasizes how IPR provides a cost-effective and efficient alternative to federal court litigation, thereby protecting innovative companies and promoting technological advancement.

11/5/2017

This post details Cloudflare's legal challenge against Blackbird Technologies, a patent troll that combines legal firm and IP rights holder functions. Cloudflare outlines its strategy to contest the lawsuit, fund an award for crowdsourced prior art to invalidate Blackbird patents, and investigate potential violations of professional conduct by Blackbird and its attorneys. The post also provides background on the patent troll problem and Cloudflare's support for the patent system.

9/21/2017

This post announces the first formal challenges and awards for Project Jengo. It details the challenge against U.S. Patent 7,797,448 ('GPS-internet Linkage') based on prior art submissions, and the ongoing analysis of U.S. Patent 6,453,335 (asserted against Cloudflare) with prior art submissions used in litigation. It also provides an update on ethics complaints filed against Blackbird Tech and highlights press coverage.

6/23/2017

This post details the administrative challenges to patents at the USPTO, specifically Inter Partes Review (IPR) and ex parte reexamination, highlighting their effectiveness, lower costs, and favorable legal standards compared to federal court proceedings for invalidating bad patents. It explains the IPR process, including the institution decision and final written decision, and the legal standards applied (preponderance of the evidence, broadest reasonable interpretation). It also describes ex parte reexamination as a further streamlined process for challenging patent validity.

5/25/2017

This post details the expansion of Project Jengo, Cloudflare's initiative to crowdsource prior art against patent trolls. It highlights the significant community response with 141 prior art submissions received in just over a week, covering 18 of 38 Blackbird Tech patents. The post announces an anonymous $50,000 donation, doubling the program's funding to at least $100,000, which will be used for bounties and funding invalidation cases. T-shirts are offered as a reward for legitimate prior art submissions. Additionally, the post discusses potential ethical and legal violations by Blackbird Tech's attorneys and their business model, and highlights legislative efforts in Illinois and Massachusetts to curb patent troll practices.

5/11/2017

This post announces Project Jengo, a bounty program to find prior art against patent trolls, specifically Blackbird Technologies. It details the motivation behind the program (combating patent trolls that inhibit innovation), the definition of prior art, and the structure of the awards (up to $50,000 for two separate bounties). It also outlines how individuals can participate by submitting prior art through a dedicated website, providing specific documentation requirements.