Patent Troll Sues Apple Over Backup Feature

IP monetization firm Stec IP claims that Apple is violating one of its recently acquired patents that describes a technology to backup data in different storage locations.

The patent was originally granted in 2006 to Veritas and has been in possession of Symantec according to the USPTO records at the time of this writing. Stec IP says it is the rightful holder of the patent and apparently acquired the patent in recent days.

Entitled "Replica synchronization using copy-on-read technique", the patent covers a

"method, system, and computer program […] to synchronize data maintained in separate storage areas using a copy-on-read technique. The separate storage areas may be distributed across a network, and the replicas of the data may be used for backup and/or disaster recovery purposes. Storage objects containing data and information relevant to managing the data by a particular application are identified, and only those storage objects are read. Data contained in the storage objects read are then copied to the replica storage area. This process avoids reading non-useful data, making the synchronization more efficient and conserving bandwidth of connections over which the data are sent."

Spec IP claims that five related patents 6,738,799; 5,495,607; 6,963,908; 5,825,891 and 6,925,481, four of which were in owned by Symantec prior to the lawsuit, substantiate its patent infringement claim. the company asked the court to be awarded damages, costs, expenses, and pre-judgment and post-judgment interest. There is no request to stop Apple from infringing the patents in question.

Stec IP filed unrelated patent infringement lawsuits against Oracle and Amazon as well.

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There are 20 Comments. B

Top Comments

17

one-shot , May 29, 2012 9:48 PM

Troll on Troll suing!

Other Comments

-2

amk-aka-Phantom , May 29, 2012 9:21 PM

Quote:
There is no request to stop Apple from infringing the patents in question.

Yep, definitely a patent troll. They should just reject this kind of $h!t right away.
5

aracheb , May 29, 2012 9:35 PM

lol, this pattern firm"troll" doesn't even try to hide is purpose and blatantly splat the purpose on its name.
17

one-shot , May 29, 2012 9:48 PM

Troll on Troll suing!
2

frank_drebin , May 29, 2012 10:24 PM

it's ok. sue the suer... On the other hand all software patents are OBVIOUS
3

ananthu123 , May 29, 2012 10:47 PM

Le trolled cupertino troll.
2

pjmelect , May 29, 2012 11:09 PM

Sync programs have been around for many years I wrote one back in the eighties, this is clearly an invalid patent due to the fact that it is prior art and obvious. If companies can get away with sh*t like this then the whole IP edifice will collapse under its own weight. Thinking about it maybe I should get on this patent bandwagon and sue Apple and Microsoft with some obvious patents.
-1

xerroz , May 29, 2012 11:11 PM

Someone suing Apple? Well I don't care who it is so long as Apple loses
2

JamesSneed , May 29, 2012 11:26 PM

All the trolls should sue like crazy. The patent system will not change without these idiots putting pressure on the largest companies.
6

cookoy , May 29, 2012 11:36 PM

Take your basic file copying process: read file, copy it to another storage location. Then apply some geek jargon like "backup", "synchronization", "distributed network", "replication". And don't forget to put in "selectively" to give it a touch of distinction. Walla, a patentable recipe.
-3

coupe , May 30, 2012 12:40 AM

The tables have turned, Darkness!
4

InvalidError , May 30, 2012 1:10 AM

"Copy On Read" is exactly what every web browser has been doing for the past ~18 years when they cache remote images and HTML locally to avoid re-transmitting unchanged pages/graphics.

For backup purposes though, "Copy on Write" would be far more useful: any change you make locally gets mirrored elsewhere.
0

hoof_hearted , May 30, 2012 2:30 AM

InvalidError"Copy On Read" is exactly what every web browser has been doing for the past ~18 years when they cache remote images and HTML locally to avoid re-transmitting unchanged pages/graphics.For backup purposes though, "Copy on Write" would be far more useful: any change you make locally gets mirrored elsewhere.

Time to submit an appication to USPTO cha-ching$$$
-1

leeashton , May 30, 2012 4:48 AM

InvalidError"Copy On Read" is exactly what every web browser has been doing for the past ~18 years when they cache remote images and HTML locally to avoid re-transmitting unchanged pages/graphics.For backup purposes though, "Copy on Write" would be far more useful: any change you make locally gets mirrored elsewhere.

RAID anyone?
0

darkavenger123 , May 30, 2012 5:55 AM

Little troll is suing GRANDMASTER TROLL. Karma is working and life is fair!
2

slabbo , May 30, 2012 7:00 AM

Trollosexual...when a troll wants to screws another troll.
1

anti-painkilla , May 30, 2012 10:58 AM

Seems Legit.

(For those that don't get sarcasm, this is one) Please call for a patent reform.
0

Uberragen21 , May 30, 2012 11:34 AM

I love how a company buys a patent, then turns around and sues another company based on the patent that was created years before they purchased it.

Simple solution, make all patents null and void when transferred to another organization or person. They should ONLY be valid to the original patent holder. Also, technology patents should be only valid for a few years to prevent stagnation of innovation.
1

chicagoguy_51 , May 31, 2012 1:11 AM

In regards to @Uberragen21 how is patent trolling and longevity of patents any different than the recording industry and copyrights? Take for example Sony/Viacom who bought the copy right to” It’s a Wonderful Life”. The movie was made before Sony/Viacom even existed and all the original participants are deceased. So isn’t Sony/Viacom just another Troll? Aren’t Copyrights been extended for way too long (over 100 years)? You mention stagnation of innovation what about absolute control over creativity?
1

bad_student , May 31, 2012 11:02 AM

Patent trolls are stupid.
On the other hand, the whole patent system seems to be unsuited for modern technology.

Maybe patent trolls can be compared to civil disobedience as a way to reform the system.
0

Uberragen21 , May 31, 2012 12:02 PM

chicagoguy_51In regards to @Uberragen21 how is patent trolling and longevity of patents any different than the recording industry and copyrights? Take for example Sony/Viacom who bought the copy right to” It’s a Wonderful Life”. The movie was made before Sony/Viacom even existed and all the original participants are deceased. So isn’t Sony/Viacom just another Troll? Aren’t Copyrights been extended for way too long (over 100 years)? You mention stagnation of innovation what about absolute control over creativity?

You bring up a VERY good point. I couldn't agree more!