DCT
6:20-cv-01165
WSOU Investments LLC v. Salesforcecom Inc
I. Executive Summary and Procedural Information
- Parties & Counsel:
- Plaintiff: WSOU Investments, LLC d/b/a Brazos Licensing and Development (Delaware)
- Defendant: Salesforce.com, Inc. (Delaware)
- Plaintiff’s Counsel: Etheridge Law Group, PLLC
- Case Identification: 6:20-cv-01165, W.D. Tex., 12/18/2020
- Venue Allegations: Plaintiff alleges venue is proper in the Western District of Texas because Defendant has committed acts of infringement in the district and maintains regular and established places of business, including an Austin office and over 300 employees working within the district.
- Core Dispute: Plaintiff alleges that Defendant’s Salesforce Sales Cloud product infringes a patent related to methods for creating and managing multi-level, interconnected ("enmeshed") directory structures.
- Technical Context: The technology concerns advanced database organization, moving beyond simple hierarchical trees to create complex relational graphs for data objects, a key function in modern customer relationship management (CRM) and social networking platforms.
- Key Procedural History: The complaint does not mention any prior litigation, Inter Partes Review (IPR) proceedings, or licensing history related to the patent-in-suit.
Case Timeline
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 2009-03-31 | ’928 Patent Priority Date |
| 2012-10-02 | ’928 Patent Issue Date |
| 2020-12-18 | Complaint Filing Date |
II. Technology and Patent(s)-in-Suit Analysis
U.S. Patent No. 8,280,928 - "Multi-level enmeshed directory structures"
(Compl. ¶2, p.3).
The Invention Explained
- Problem Addressed: The patent identifies limitations in conventional data organization. Simple directory structures (like a computer file system) typically provide only a single, unique path to an object. Conversely, "flat-tag" systems allow an object to have multiple descriptors (or tags), but fail to codify any relationship between those descriptors. (ʼ928 Patent, col. 1:31-54).
- The Patented Solution: The invention proposes a "multi-level enmeshed directory structure" where data objects can be described by multiple "descriptors." Crucially, these descriptors can themselves be associated with other, higher-level descriptors, forming a complex, non-linear relational graph. This allows for multiple, distinct paths to a single data object and enables the system to infer relationships between the various descriptors. (ʼ928 Patent, Abstract; col. 5:1-14; Fig. 3).
- Technical Importance: This method provides a more flexible and powerful framework for organizing, navigating, and querying complex datasets where entities (such as people, products, or companies) have multifaceted, overlapping relationships. (ʼ928 Patent, col. 8:5-10).
Key Claims at a Glance
- The complaint asserts infringement of at least independent claim 1. (Compl. ¶23).
- The essential elements of Claim 1 include:
- selecting an initial data object;
- creating one or more descriptors for the object, which are themselves associated with other descriptors to form a multi-level relational tree;
- determining the relationship between the descriptors;
- creating a hierarchical structure linking the different levels of descriptors;
- updating a corresponding database; and
- identifying a single initial descriptor that links to both a plurality of other descriptors and to two or more "predecessor" descriptors that link to another single descriptor, thereby establishing complex relative relationships.
III. The Accused Instrumentality
Product Identification
The accused product is the Salesforce Sales Cloud platform. (Compl. ¶4).
Functionality and Market Context
- Salesforce Sales Cloud is a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) platform for managing customer contacts, accounts, and sales opportunities. (Compl. ¶5). The complaint alleges that its "Account and Contact Management" features allow users to create and view a "multi-level hierarchy" among contacts. (Compl. ¶¶5-6). This hierarchy is allegedly built using a "Reports to" field, which associates a contact with a reporting manager, thereby creating what the complaint calls a "multi-level relational tree." (Compl. ¶¶7, 11).
- The complaint includes a screenshot from a Salesforce help article showing the "Contact Hierarchy" view, which graphically displays reporting relationships. (Compl. ¶8, p. 7).
- The complaint describes the Salesforce Sales Cloud as the "#1 CRM for all businesses." (Compl. ¶20, p. 12).
IV. Analysis of Infringement Allegations
’928 Patent Infringement Allegations
| Claim Element (from Independent Claim 1) | Alleged Infringing Functionality | Complaint Citation | Patent Citation |
|---|---|---|---|
| selecting an initial data object; | Users add or create contact information (e.g., name, email, address), which constitutes a data object. | ¶10 | col. 10:50 |
| creating one or more descriptors associated with the data object wherein each of said descriptors are further associated with one or more corresponding descriptors thereby forming a multi-level relational tree; | The platform uses contact names as descriptors and the "Reports to" field to associate contacts with reporting managers, which allegedly forms a multi-level relational tree. The "Create Contact" page includes this "Reports To" field. | ¶¶9, 11; p. 6 | col. 10:52-56 |
| determining the relationship between the one or more descriptors; | The hierarchical relationship is determined based on the job role and the reporting manager assigned in the "Reports to" field. | ¶15 | col. 10:57-58 |
| creating a hierarchical structure linking the different levels of descriptors; | The platform provides a "Contact Hierarchy" view that displays the reporting structure, linking contacts at different levels. A screenshot from a Salesforce article shows this hierarchical view. | ¶¶8, 16; p. 7 | col. 10:59-62 |
| updating a corresponding database; | When a user edits contact information or hierarchy, the platform updates the corresponding information in its single cloud database. | ¶¶18-19 | col. 10:63 |
| identifying a single initial descriptor that links a plurality of descriptors and two or more predecessor descriptors linking another single descriptor to thereby establish relationships between different descriptors relative to themselves and to the single initial descriptor. | The complaint uses a third-party diagram to allege this functionality, describing a contact ("Alice Black") that links down to subordinates and is also linked up to multiple predecessors, creating complex, enmeshed relationships. | ¶22; p. 13 | col. 10:64-68 |
Identified Points of Contention
- Scope Questions: A central question may be whether standard CRM data fields like "contact name" and hierarchical "Reports to" relationships fall within the scope of the patent's term "descriptor" and "multi-level relational tree," or if those terms require a more specialized structure than what is present in the accused product.
- Technical Questions: The complaint relies on a third-party, illustrative diagram to map the final, most complex limitation of Claim 1. (Compl. ¶22, p. 13). This raises the evidentiary question of whether the Salesforce Sales Cloud actually performs this specific "enmeshed" linking—where a single node is shown to have multiple, distinct upward paths as claimed—or if the accused product's hierarchy is a conventional one-to-many tree structure that does not meet this limitation.
V. Key Claim Terms for Construction
The Term: "descriptor"
- Context and Importance: This is the foundational element of the claimed structure. The outcome of the infringement analysis depends heavily on whether standard CRM data entries, such as a contact's name or their assigned manager in a "Reports to" field, qualify as "descriptors" under the patent.
- Intrinsic Evidence for a Broader Interpretation: The specification suggests a broad meaning, stating that descriptors "can be thought of as tags" and are similar to "key words" used in web applications. (ʼ928 Patent, Abstract; col. 1:45-48).
- Intrinsic Evidence for a Narrower Interpretation: The patent provides specific examples in the context of network management, with descriptors representing network elements like routers and servers. (ʼ928 Patent, col. 8:36-41). A party could argue the term should be understood in light of these more specific embodiments.
The Term: "multi-level relational tree"
- Context and Importance: This term defines the required architecture. Practitioners may focus on this term because the dispute may center on whether the accused "Contact Hierarchy" is a conventional hierarchy (where each individual reports to only one manager, forming a simple tree) or the more complex "relational" structure envisioned by the patent, which allows for enmeshed relationships.
- Intrinsic Evidence for a Broader (more complex) Interpretation: The patent specification describes the invention as an "acyclic-relationship graph" and provides Figure 3, which explicitly shows a node (A9) linked to multiple, distinct parent branches (A4 and B2), supporting a structure more complex than a simple tree. (ʼ928 Patent, col. 5:1-3; Fig. 3).
- Intrinsic Evidence for a Narrower (simpler) Interpretation: A party could argue that the term "tree" itself implies a more traditional hierarchical structure and that the "relational" aspect does not necessarily require the specific multi-parent "enmeshed" structure shown in Figure 3, but could be satisfied by other types of relationships within a hierarchy.
VI. Other Allegations
- Indirect Infringement: The complaint alleges induced infringement based on Salesforce’s advertising, product descriptions, operating manuals, and other instructions available on its websites, which allegedly instruct users on how to use the accused features. (Compl. ¶26).
- Willful Infringement: The complaint alleges knowledge of the ’928 Patent "since at least the date of service of this Complaint," forming a basis for post-suit willful infringement. (Compl. ¶25).
VII. Analyst’s Conclusion: Key Questions for the Case
- A core issue will be one of definitional scope: can the patent’s term "descriptor," which is contextualized with examples of network nodes, be construed to cover standard data fields like a "contact name" and a "Reports to" relationship in a general-purpose CRM system?
- A key evidentiary question will be one of technical implementation: does the Salesforce "Contact Hierarchy" feature create a conventional, single-path-upward organizational chart, or can the plaintiff prove it creates the specific "enmeshed" structure required by the patent, where a single entity can be linked to multiple, distinct predecessor branches as claimed? The plaintiff's use of a third-party diagram to illustrate this concept suggests that demonstrating this specific functionality within the accused product will be a central point of contention.