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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 

FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS

WACO DIVISION

WSOU INVESTMENTS, LLC d/b/a 

BRAZOS LICENSING AND 

DEVELOPMENT,

Plaintiff,

v.

DELL TECHNOLOGIES INC., DELL 

INC., AND EMC CORPORATION,

Defendants.

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CIVIL ACTION NO. 6:20-cv-409

JURY TRIAL DEMANDED

ORIGINAL COMPLAINT FOR PATENT INFRINGEMENT

Plaintiff WSOU Investments, LLC d/b/a Brazos Licensing and Development (“Brazos” or 

“Plaintiff”), by and through its attorneys, files this Complaint for Patent Infringement against Dell 

Technologies Inc., Dell Inc., and EMC Corporation (collectively, “Defendants”) and alleges:

NATURE OF THE ACTION

1. This is a civil action for patent infringement arising under the Patent Laws of the 

United States, 35 U.S.C. §§ 1, et seq., including §§ 271, 281, 284, and 285.

THE PARTIES

2. Brazos is a limited liability corporation organized and existing under the laws of 

Delaware, with its principal place of business at 605 Austin Avenue, Suite 6, Waco, Texas 76701.

3. On information and belief, defendant Dell Technologies Inc. is a Delaware 

corporation with a principal place of business at One Dell Way, Round Rock, Texas 78682.

4. On information and belief, defendant Dell Inc. is a Delaware corporation with a 

principal place of business at One Dell Way, Round Rock, Texas 78682. Dell Inc. is wholly owned 

by its corporate parent, Dell Technologies Inc. 

Case 6:20-cv-00409-ADA Document 1 Filed 05/19/20 Page 1 of 9
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5. On information and belief, defendant EMC Corporation is a Massachusetts 

corporation with a principal place of business at One Dell Way, Round Rock, Texas 78682. EMC 

Corporation is wholly owned by its corporate parent, Dell Technologies Inc.

JURISDICTION AND VENUE

6. This is an action for patent infringement which arises under the Patent Laws of the 

United States, in particular, 35 U.S.C. §§ 271, 281, 284, and 285.

7. This Court has jurisdiction over the subject matter of this action under 28 U.S.C.

§§ 1331 and 1338(a).

8. This Court has specific and general personal jurisdiction over each defendant

pursuant to due process and/or the Texas Long Arm Statute, because each defendant has committed 

acts giving rise to this action within Texas and within this judicial district. The Court’s exercise of 

jurisdiction over each defendant would not offend traditional notions of fair play and substantial 

justice because each defendant has established minimum contacts with the forum. For example, 

on information and belief, each defendant has committed acts of infringement in this judicial 

district, by among other things, selling and offering for sale products that infringe the asserted 

patent, directly or through intermediaries, as alleged herein.

9. Venue in the Western District of Texas is proper pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§1391

and/or 1400(b). Each defendant has established places of business in the Western District of Texas. 

Each defendant is registered to do business in Texas. Upon information and belief, each defendant 

has transacted business in this District and has committed acts of infringement in this District. 

COUNT ONE - INFRINGEMENT OF 

U.S. PATENT NO. 7,126,921

10. Brazos re-alleges and incorporates by reference the preceding paragraphs of this 

Complaint.

Case 6:20-cv-00409-ADA Document 1 Filed 05/19/20 Page 2 of 9
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11. On October 24, 2006, the United States Patent and Trademark Office duly and 

legally issued U.S. Patent No. 7,126,921 (“the ‘921 Patent”), entitled “Packet Network Providing 

Fast Distribution of Node Related Information and a Method Therefor.” A true and correct copy 

of the ‘921 Patent is attached as Exhibit A to this Complaint.

12. Brazos is the owner of all rights, title, and interest in and to the ‘921 Patent, 

including the right to assert all causes of action arising under the ‘921 Patent and the right to any 

remedies for the infringement of the ‘921 Patent.

13. Defendants make, use, sell, offer for sale, import, and/or distribute in the United 

States, including within this judicial district, products such as, but not limited to, controlled 

networking devices, including but not limited to, routers controlled by DNOS incorporating 

features of FTOS (collectively, the “Accused Products”).

14. The Accused Products operate based on Dell Networking OS (DNOS), which 

incorporates features from Force10 Networks’s Force10 Operating System (FTOS) for packet 

networks having nodes and links. 

https://www.networkworld.com/article/2179414/dell-takes-deeper-dive-into-networking--buysforce10.html

Case 6:20-cv-00409-ADA Document 1 Filed 05/19/20 Page 3 of 9
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...

https://www.force10networks.com/CSPortal20/KnowledgeBase/DOCUMENTATION/CLIConfi

g/FTOS/All_CONFIG%20Book_8212_13-Oct-09.pdf

15. FTOS can be installed on Dell Open Networking (ON) Switches.

https://www.dell.com/support/article/us/en/04/how11548/how-to-install-dell-networking-ftos-ondell-open-networking-on-switches?lang=en

16. The Accused Products implement a control plane to control the nodes and a 

forwarding (data) plane responsive to the control plane. A control plane is a set of protocols that 

determine how the forwarding plane should forward packets, deciding which data packets are 

Case 6:20-cv-00409-ADA Document 1 Filed 05/19/20 Page 4 of 9
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allowed to be forwarded and where they should go. 

https://cdn.competec.ch/documents/3/9/392428/DE_Handbuch_switch.pdf

17. Link State Advertisements (LSAs) help routing network devices forward data 

packets. Link state information provides routing-related information to the nodes in the packet 

network and is provided to the control plane for computing forward routing information.

https://www.force10networks.com/CSPortal20/KnowledgeBase/DOCUMENTATION/CLIConfi

g/FTOS/All_CONFIG%20Book_8212_13-Oct-09.pdf

18. When one of the routing network devices goes down, there is a potential to lose 

access to parts of the network, causing potential packet loss. Therefore, the network will want to 

maintain a stable topology if it is possible for data flow to continue uninterrupted. To facilitate this

in networks using the Accused Products, the computed forward routing information gets 

Case 6:20-cv-00409-ADA Document 1 Filed 05/19/20 Page 5 of 9
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downloaded into a Forwarding Information Base (FIB) on the line cards (the data plane) of the 

routing network devices. 

https://www.force10networks.com/CSPortal20/KnowledgeBase/DOCUMENTATION/CLIConfi

g/FTOS/All_CONFIG%20Book_8212_13-Oct-09.pdf

19. The data plane provides fast propagation of link state information. For example, 

type 9 link-local opaque grace-LSAs notify the helper neighbors during a restart process. The other 

nodes routers continue to announce information regarding the restarting router if the network 

topology is unchanged. Link state information contains the forward route information for the 

nodes. 

https://www.force10networks.com/CSPortal20/KnowledgeBase/DOCUMENTATION/CLIConfi

g/FTOS/All_CONFIG%20Book_8212_13-Oct-09.pdf

Case 6:20-cv-00409-ADA Document 1 Filed 05/19/20 Page 6 of 9
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20. Moreover, Fast Convergence allows a user to define the speeds at which link-state 

information originates and accepted to speed up route information propagation.

https://www.force10networks.com/CSPortal20/KnowledgeBase/DOCUMENTATION/CLIConfi

g/FTOS/All_CONFIG%20Book_8212_13-Oct-09.pdf

21. In view of preceding paragraphs, each and every element of at least claim 1 of the 

‘921 Patent is found in the Accused Products.

22. Defendants continue to directly infringe at least one claim of the ‘921 Patent, 

literally or under the doctrine of equivalents, by making, using, selling, offering for sale, 

importing, and/or distributing the Accused Products in the United States, including within this 

judicial district, without the authority of Brazos.

23. Defendants have received notice and actual or constructive knowledge of the ‘921

Patent since at least the date of service of this Complaint.

24. Since at least the date of service of this Complaint, through its actions, 

Defendants have actively induced product makers, distributors, retailers, and/or end users of the 

Accused Products to infringe the ‘921 Patent throughout the United States, including within this 

judicial district, by, among other things, advertising and promoting the use of the Accused 

Products in various websites, including providing and disseminating product descriptions, 

operating manuals, and other instructions on how to implement and configure the Accused 

Products. Examples of such advertising, promoting, and/or instructing include the documents at:

• https://www.networkworld.com/article/2179414/dell-takes-deeper-dive-intoCase 6:20-cv-00409-ADA Document 1 Filed 05/19/20 Page 7 of 9
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networking--buys-force10.html

• https://www.force10networks.com/CSPortal20/KnowledgeBase/DOCUMENTATION/

CLIConfig/FTOS/All_CONFIG%20Book_8212_13-Oct-09.pdf

• https://cdn.competec.ch/documents/3/9/392428/DE_Handbuch_switch.pdf

• https://www.dell.com/support/article/us/en/04/how11548/how-to-install-dellnetworking-ftos-on-dell-open-networking-on-switches?lang=en

25. Since at least the date of service of this Complaint, through its actions, 

Defendants have contributed to the infringement of the ‘921 Patent by having others sell, offer 

for sale, or use the Accused Products throughout the United States, including within this judicial

district, with knowledge that the Accused Products infringe the ‘921 Patent. The Accused 

Products are especially made or adapted for infringing the ‘921 Patent and have no substantial 

non-infringing use. For example, in view of the preceding paragraphs, the Accused Products 

contain functionality which is material to at least one claim of the ‘921 Patent.

JURY DEMAND

Brazos hereby demands a jury on all issues so triable.

REQUEST FOR RELIEF

WHEREFORE, Brazos respectfully requests that the Court:

(A) Enter judgment that Defendants infringe one or more claims of the ‘921 Patent

literally and/or under the doctrine of equivalents;

(B) Enter judgment that Defendants have induced infringement and continue to induce 

infringement of one or more claims of the ‘921 Patent;

(C) Enter judgment that Defendants have contributed to and continue to contribute to 

the infringement of one or more claims of the ‘921 Patent;

Case 6:20-cv-00409-ADA Document 1 Filed 05/19/20 Page 8 of 9
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(D) Award Brazos damages, to be paid by Defendants in an amount adequate to 

compensate Brazos for such damages, together with pre-judgment and post-judgment interest for 

the infringement by Defendants of the ‘921 Patent through the date such judgment is entered in 

accordance with 35 U.S.C. § 284, and increase such award by up to three times the amount found 

or assessed in accordance with 35 U.S.C. § 284;

(E) Declare this case exceptional pursuant to 35 U.S.C. § 285; and

(F) Award Brazos its costs, disbursements, attorneys’ fees, and such further and 

additional relief as is deemed appropriate by this Court.

Dated: May 19, 2020 Respectfully submitted,

/s/ James L. Etheridge

James L. Etheridge

Texas State Bar No. 24059147 

Ryan S. Loveless

Texas State Bar No. 24036997 

Travis L. Richins

Texas State Bar No. 24061296

ETHERIDGE LAW GROUP, PLLC

2600 E. Southlake Blvd., Suite 120 / 324

Southlake, Texas 76092

Telephone: (817) 470-7249

Facsimile: (817) 887-5950

Jim@EtheridgeLaw.com

Ryan@EtheridgeLaw.com

Travis@EtheridgeLaw.com

COUNSEL FOR PLAINTIFF

Case 6:20-cv-00409-ADA Document 1 Filed 05/19/20 Page 9 of 9