DCT

2:22-cv-00249

ServStor Tech LLC v. NEC

Log In

I. Executive Summary and Procedural Information

  • Parties & Counsel:
  • Case Identification: 2:22-cv-00249, E.D. Tex., 07/07/2022
  • Venue Allegations: Venue is alleged to be proper because the Defendant is not a resident of the United States and may therefore be sued in any judicial district.
  • Core Dispute: Plaintiff alleges that Defendant’s server products, including the Express5800 Server Series, infringe five U.S. patents related to server monitoring, management, architecture, and storage partitioning.
  • Technical Context: The patents address technologies for remotely monitoring and managing computer servers, including out-of-band management and dynamic storage allocation, which are foundational to modern data center operations.
  • Key Procedural History: The U.S. Patent No. 7,000,010 is a continuation-in-part of the application that led to U.S. Patent No. 6,738,930. The U.S. Patent No. 7,310,750 is a continuation of the same parent application. This shared prosecution history may be relevant for claim construction across these related patents.

Case Timeline

Date Event
2000-12-22 Earliest Priority Date for ’010, ’930, and ’750 Patents
2001-08-20 Earliest Priority Date for ’274 Patent
2002-11-12 Earliest Priority Date for ’271 Patent
2004-05-18 Issue Date for U.S. Patent No. 6,738,930
2006-02-14 Issue Date for U.S. Patent No. 7,000,010
2007-03-13 Issue Date for U.S. Patent No. 7,191,274
2007-12-18 Issue Date for U.S. Patent No. 7,310,750
2011-01-11 Issue Date for U.S. Patent No. 7,870,271
2022-07-07 Complaint Filing Date

II. Technology and Patent(s)-in-Suit Analysis

U.S. Patent No. 7,000,010, “System and Method for Caching Web Pages on a Management Appliance for Personal Computers,” issued February 14, 2006

The Invention Explained

  • Problem Addressed: The patent describes drawbacks with prior art methods for monitoring industrial computers, noting that when a computer’s main processor crashed, it was "nearly impossible to determine information about the reason for the crash" (’010 Patent, col. 2:60-65). Functionality was also limited to preset conditions that were difficult to reconfigure remotely ( Compl. ¶ 7; ’010 Patent, col. 2:42-53).
  • The Patented Solution: The invention proposes a "management appliance" with its own microprocessor, separate from the host computer's CPU, that can monitor the host computer (’010 Patent, Abstract). This appliance can cache recent status web pages generated by the host, making a record of the host's state immediately before a crash available for remote diagnosis via an "out-of-band" network connection, even if the host CPU is inoperable (’010 Patent, col. 4:11-42). Figure 2 illustrates this architecture, showing a management appliance (208) connected to a host CPU (220) internally and to an external network via a separate Ethernet port (219).
  • Technical Importance: This approach provided a mechanism for robust, "technician-less" remote diagnostics, which was valuable for managing geographically dispersed computer networks where physical access is costly and slow (’010 Patent, col. 1:33-41).

Key Claims at a Glance

  • The complaint asserts at least independent claim 1 (Compl. ¶ 21).
  • Essential elements of claim 1 include:
    • An apparatus for managing characteristics of a computer with a host CPU.
    • A management appliance disposed in the computer and coupled to the host CPU.
    • The management appliance has its own microprocessor running a microserver capable of handling web and IP-based content.
    • The management appliance has an out-of-band connection to a network and an internal connection to the host CPU.
    • The host CPU is configured to generate monitoring web pages.
    • The management appliance microserver monitors the host computer monitoring web pages via the internal connection.
    • The management appliance reports status information from those web pages to an external network via the out-of-band connection.

U.S. Patent No. 6,738,930, “Method and System for Extending the Functionality of an Environmental Monitor for an Industrial Personal Computer,” issued May 18, 2004

The Invention Explained

  • Problem Addressed: The patent identifies the same problem as its continuation-in-part (’010 Patent): prior art "out-of-band" environmental monitors were limited to monitoring preset conditions and were difficult to reconfigure remotely, often requiring the host PC to be physically opened (’930 Patent, col. 1:27-44).
  • The Patented Solution: The invention describes an "alarm card" containing a microserver that can access "web-enabled information on the host computer" (’930 Patent, Abstract). This alarm card has both an internal connection to the host CPU and an "out-of-band" connection to an external network, allowing it to monitor web-based content generated by the host CPU and report status information externally (’930 Patent, col. 5:1-12). This architecture is shown in Figure 2, where an alarm card (208) communicates with a host CPU card (220).
  • Technical Importance: By enabling an alarm card to monitor web-based content from the host, the invention allowed for more dynamic and remotely configurable monitoring of a computer’s status, moving beyond fixed, preset parameters (’930 Patent, col. 4:5-24).

Key Claims at a Glance

  • The complaint asserts at least independent claim 1 (Compl. ¶ 31).
  • Essential elements of claim 1 include:
    • An apparatus for monitoring environmental characteristics of an industrial personal computer with a host CPU.
    • An alarm card disposed in the computer and coupled to the host CPU.
    • The alarm card has an alarm card microprocessor running a microserver capable of handling web and IP-based content.
    • The alarm card has an out-of-band connection to a network and an internal connection to the host CPU.
    • The alarm card microserver monitors the host CPU's web-based content via the internal connection.
    • The alarm card reports status information from the web-enabled content to an external network via the out-of-band connection.

Multi-Patent Capsule

  • U.S. Patent No. 7,310,750, “Method and System for Extending the Functionality of an Environmental Monitor for an Industrial Personal Computer,” issued December 18, 2007

    • Technology Synopsis: This patent, a continuation of the same application as the ’930 Patent, describes a similar system. It claims an apparatus with an "alarm card" that includes a server for monitoring web-based content on a host CPU and reporting information via an out-of-band connection (Compl. ¶ 11; ’750 Patent, Abstract).
    • Asserted Claims: At least independent claim 1 is asserted (the complaint incorrectly references the '930 patent in ¶ 41, but contextually refers to the '750 patent per the count heading) (Compl. ¶ 41).
    • Accused Features: The accused functionality is the monitoring of environmental characteristics in the NEC B120g-h server, which allegedly includes an alarm card that monitors and reports web-based content from the host CPU (Compl. ¶ 42).

  • U.S. Patent No. 7,191,274, “Method and System for Providing Independent Server Functionality in a Single Personal Computer,” issued March 13, 2007

    • Technology Synopsis: This patent describes a computer system architecture, such as a blade server chassis, containing multiple "planar shaped circuit cards." Each card provides an independent, dedicated server function and is configured to be "free from any direct communication connection with any inter-card bus inside said enclosure," receiving only power from the shared chassis (’274 Patent, col. 4:1-4).
    • Asserted Claims: At least independent claim 1 is asserted (Compl. ¶ 51).
    • Accused Features: The accused product is the NEC Blade Enclosure M, which is alleged to be a computer system with a chassis, slots, and multiple planar circuit cards providing independent server functions without being connected to an inter-card bus (Compl. ¶ 52).

  • U.S. Patent No. 7,870,271, “Disk Drive Partitioning Methods and Apparatus,” issued January 11, 2011

    • Technology Synopsis: This patent describes a storage system where a storage medium can be partitioned, and each partition is assigned its own unique Internet Protocol (IP) address, typically obtained from a DHCP server. This allows network devices to directly access specific storage partitions as independent, peer-to-peer network resources without going through a host operating system (’271 Patent, Abstract, col. 1:60-67).
    • Asserted Claims: At least independent claim 1 is asserted (Compl. ¶ 61).
    • Accused Features: The accused product is the NEC B120g-h server, which is alleged to be a computer system that can receive a request for a partition, create the partition, obtain a unique IP address for it from a DHCP server, and associate a name with that IP address (Compl. ¶ 62).

III. The Accused Instrumentality

Product Identification

  • NEC Express5800 Server Series, including but not limited to Blade Enclosure M and Blade Enclosure H servers and various accompanying server blades (e.g., B120g-h) (Compl. ¶ 17).

Functionality and Market Context

  • The complaint alleges these servers include management modules that work with a Baseboard Management Controller (BMC) to provide remote management capabilities (Compl. ¶ 17).
  • The complaint includes a visual reference to a user guide for "EXPRESSSCOPE Engine 3," describing it as a system for monitoring the server's operating status (temperature, etc.), operating the keyboard, video, and mouse (KVM) remotely, and accessing remote drives (Compl. p. 5). This functionality is described as being enabled by a system management LSI called a "BMC (Baseboard Management Controller)" (Compl. p. 5).
  • The complaint alleges these servers have the capability to report status information, utilize independent circuit cards in blade enclosures, and create server partitions addressed by distinct IP addresses (Compl. ¶¶ 21, 52, 62).

IV. Analysis of Infringement Allegations

’010 Patent Infringement Allegations

Claim Element (from Independent Claim 1) Alleged Infringing Functionality Complaint Citation Patent Citation
an apparatus for managing characteristics of a computer, of the type having a host CPU therein... The B120g-h is an apparatus for managing characteristics of a computer having a host CPU. ¶22 col. 6:53-56
a management appliance, disposed in said computer and, at least indirectly, coupled to said host CPU; The B120g-h comprises a management appliance disposed in the computer and indirectly coupled to the host CPU. ¶22 col. 6:57-59
the management appliance having a management appliance microprocessor therein which runs a management appliance microserver... The management appliance has a microprocessor that runs a management appliance microserver. ¶22 col. 6:60-63
the management appliance having an out-of-band connection to a network; The management appliance has an out-of-band connection to a network. ¶22 col. 6:64-65
via a host CPU to management appliance connection, the management appliance microserver monitors the host computer monitoring web pages; and, Via an internal connection to the host CPU, the management appliance monitors the host computer monitoring web pages. ¶22 col. 6:4-8
via the out-of-band connection, the management appliance reports... status information contained in said host computer monitoring web pages. The management appliance reports status information from the web pages to an external network via the out-of-band connection. ¶22 col. 6:8-12

’930 Patent Infringement Allegations

Claim Element (from Independent Claim 1) Alleged Infringing Functionality Complaint Citation Patent Citation
an apparatus for monitoring environmental characteristics of an industrial personal computer, of the type having a host CPU device... The B120g-h comprises an apparatus for monitoring environmental characteristics of an individual personal computer with a host CPU device. ¶32 col. 5:58-62
an alarm card, disposed in said industrial personal computer and coupled with a host CPU device; The B120g-h includes an alarm card, disposed in the computer and coupled with a host CPU device. ¶32 col. 5:62-63
the alarm card comprises an alarm card microprocessor therein which runs a management appliance microserver capable of handling web and IP-based content; The alarm card has a microprocessor that runs a management appliance microserver capable of handling web and IP-based content. ¶32 col. 5:64-67
the alarm card further comprises an out-of-band connection to a network; The alarm card has an out-of-band connection to a network. ¶32 col. 6:1-2
via the internal connection, the alarm card microserver monitors the host CPU web-based content...; and, Via the internal connection, the alarm card microserver monitors the host CPU web-based content. ¶32 col. 6:5-8
via the out-of-band connections, the alarm card reports... status information contained in the web-enabled content on the host CPU. Via the out-of-band connection, the alarm card reports status information from the web-enabled content to an external network. ¶32 col. 6:8-12

Identified Points of Contention

  • Scope Questions: For both the ’010 and ’930 Patents, a primary question will be whether the accused "Baseboard Management Controller (BMC)," which is typically an integrated chip on a server motherboard, falls within the scope of the claimed "management appliance" or "alarm card." The patents' specifications and figures depict these as physically distinct cards (e.g., card 208 in Fig. 2) inserted into a computer, raising the question of whether an integrated component meets this limitation.
  • Technical Questions: The complaint alleges that the accused NEC servers generate and monitor "host computer monitoring web pages" ('010 Patent) or "web-based content" ('930 Patent) (Compl. ¶¶ 22, 32). A factual question for the court will be what evidence supports the allegation that the specific status information managed by the BMC (e.g., temperature, fan speed) constitutes "web pages" or "web-based content" as required by the claims.

V. Key Claim Terms for Construction

  • The Term: "management appliance" (’010 Patent, claim 1) / "alarm card" (’930 Patent, claim 1)

    • Context and Importance: These terms are central to the infringement analysis for the lead patents. The complaint alleges the accused NEC servers' Baseboard Management Controller (BMC) is a "management appliance" and an "alarm card" (Compl. ¶¶ 17, 22, 32). Practitioners may focus on these terms because the patents’ embodiments show a physically separate, insertable card, whereas a BMC is often an integrated component on the server motherboard. The outcome of this construction could be dispositive for these patents.
    • Intrinsic Evidence for Interpretation:
      • Evidence for a Broader Interpretation: The claims themselves use the broader term "appliance" or "card" and require only that it be "disposed in said computer," which could arguably include an integrated chip. The function—providing independent, out-of-band monitoring—is the core of the invention, and a party might argue the physical form (separate card vs. integrated chip) is not a limiting feature.
      • Evidence for a Narrower Interpretation: The detailed description in both patents consistently refers to the invention as a "card" (e.g., "alarm card 208") that is deployed in a PC via an expansion bus like ISA or PCI (’930 Patent, col. 2:50-56). Figure 2 in both patents depicts a distinct physical card (208) separate from the host CPU card (220). This may support a narrower construction limited to a physically separate, removable card.

  • The Term: "out-of-band connection" (’010 Patent, claim 1; ’930 Patent, claim 1)

    • Context and Importance: The claims require the monitoring appliance/card to report status information via an "out-of-band" connection. This term is critical because it defines the required degree of independence from the main system's network path.
    • Intrinsic Evidence for Interpretation:
      • Evidence for a Broader Interpretation: A party might argue that any dedicated management port that operates independently of the host operating system's network stack qualifies as "out-of-band," which would likely cover modern BMC implementations.
      • Evidence for a Narrower Interpretation: The specification describes the "out-of-band" connection in contrast to an "in-band" connection (Ethernet port 229) used by the host CPU (’930 Patent, Fig. 2). The patent emphasizes this separation, showing the alarm card Ethernet port (219) as a distinct physical port for external communication, separate from the host's primary network interface (’930 Patent, col. 2:62-66). This could be argued to require a physically and logically separate network path from the one used by the host for its primary operations.

VI. Other Allegations

  • Indirect Infringement: For all asserted patents, the complaint alleges induced infringement. The basis for inducement is that NEC provides products to end-users for use in an infringing manner, with knowledge of the patents at least as of the complaint's filing date (Compl. ¶¶ 23-25, 33-35, 43-45, 53-55, 63-65). No specific user manuals or marketing materials are cited as evidence of intent to induce.
  • Willful Infringement: Willfulness is alleged based on knowledge of the patents "at least as of the date of this Complaint" (Compl. ¶¶ 24, 34, 44, 54, 64). The complaint also alleges willful blindness, stating that NEC acted with the belief of a high probability of infringement while remaining willfully blind (Compl. ¶¶ 25, 35, 45, 55, 65).

VII. Analyst’s Conclusion: Key Questions for the Case

  1. A central issue will be one of claim scope and technological evolution: Can the terms "management appliance" and "alarm card," which the patents describe as physically separate cards inserted into an expansion bus, be construed to cover the accused servers' integrated Baseboard Management Controller (BMC) chip? The case may turn on whether the court defines the invention by its physical form as disclosed or by its independent monitoring function, which has evolved in the industry.
  2. A second key question will be one of architectural equivalence: For the ’274 patent, does the architecture of the accused NEC blade servers meet the negative limitation of being "free from any direct communication connection with any inter-card bus"? This will require a detailed factual analysis of the accused product's backplane and communication protocols.
  3. Finally, an important evidentiary question will be one of functional operation: For the ’271 patent, what evidence demonstrates that the accused NEC servers perform the specific claimed method of receiving a named partition request and then obtaining a distinct IP address for that partition from a DHCP server, as opposed to using other methods of storage allocation and network addressing?