November, 16th, 2020

Categories: Blog, News Tags: computer, IPR, patent, PTAB, whipgroup

Dropbox was sued by WHIPgroup’s client WhitServe for infringement of a patent relating to an onsite backup system for third party data. In response, Dropbox challenged the novelty and non-obviousness of the patent with six separate statutory bases before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board – known for invalidating computer-implemented inventions. The PTAB, however, agreed with WHIPgroup that claims of the patent that Dropbox is alleged to infringe are new and novel.

WHIPgroup’s win at the PTAB is the result of years of planning and strategy. At WHIPgroup’s recommendation, WhitServe previously took steps to buttress the patent’s validity after Google attempted to invalidate another patent in the same family. WhitServe updated its disclosures to the USPTO when it filed the patent now asserted against Dropbox, so that the USPTO considered Google’s arguments before issuing the current patent. As a result, Dropbox was unable to rely on Google’s arguments for invalidity, leading to the positive result for WHIPgroup’s client today.