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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-408

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-00408-ADA Document 1 Filed 05/19/20 Page 1 of 11
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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. 8,913,489

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

Complaint.

Case 6:20-cv-00408-ADA Document 1 Filed 05/19/20 Page 2 of 11
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11. On December 16, 2014, the United States Patent and Trademark Office duly and 

legally issued U.S. Patent No. 8,913,489 (“the ‘489 Patent”), entitled “System and Method for 

Virtual Fabric Link Failure Recovery.” A true and correct copy of the ‘489 Patent is attached as 

Exhibit A to this Complaint.

12. Brazos is the owner of all rights, title, and interest in and to the ‘489 Patent, 

including the right to assert all causes of action arising under the ‘489 Patent and the right to any 

remedies for the infringement of the ‘489 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, networking 

switches with Virtual Link Trunking (VLT), including but not limited to, C9000 series switches

(collectively, the “Accused Products”).

14. The Accused Products provide multi-rate, modular switching platforms, which can 

be used for campus, mid-market, and large-enterprise networks and support Layer 2 multipath 

using VLT.

...

https://www.dell.com/en-us/work/shop/povw/networking-c9000-series

Case 6:20-cv-00408-ADA Document 1 Filed 05/19/20 Page 3 of 11
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15. The Accused Products operate based on Dell Networking OS (DNOS), which 

incorporates features from Force10 Networks’s Force10 Operating System (FTOS), including 

VLT. VLT allows two physical switches to be represented as a single logical switch, which can be 

regarded as a part of a multi-chassis link aggregation group (MC-LAG). With physical links as a 

port-channel, connecting two individual switches configured with VLT would logically group it 

as a single entity only for the access switches which connect to the VLT domain. 

https://topics-cdn.dell.com/pdf/networking-c9000-series_users-guide_en-us.pdf

16. For example, a VLT topology may include two switches, including an Accused 

Product, in a VLT Domain that communicates with servers by forming a multi-chassis link 

aggregation group over port interfaces of the switches.

Case 6:20-cv-00408-ADA Document 1 Filed 05/19/20 Page 4 of 11
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https://downloads.dell.com/solutions/networking-solutionresources/Virtual%20Link%20Trunking-Reference%20Architecture%202%200_External.pdf

17. Further, as shown in the example above, switches in the VLT Domain may be 

considered VTI peer devices and connected using a VLTi interconnect port-channel, which acts a 

virtual fiber link. The VLT interconnect (VLTi) carries MAC, ARP Tables, and IGMP State 

information between the VLT peer switches in a VLT topology.

...

...

Case 6:20-cv-00408-ADA Document 1 Filed 05/19/20 Page 5 of 11
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https://topics-cdn.dell.com/pdf/networking-c9000-series_users-guide_en-us.pdf

https://downloads.dell.com/solutions/networking-solutionresources/Virtual%20Link%20Trunking-Reference%20Architecture%202%200_External.pdf

18. The Accused Products can determine a connection failure of the VLTi

interconnect.

https://downloads.dell.com/solutions/networking-solutionresources/Virtual%20Link%20Trunking-Reference%20Architecture%202%200_External.pdf

Case 6:20-cv-00408-ADA Document 1 Filed 05/19/20 Page 6 of 11
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...

...

https://topics-cdn.dell.com/pdf/networking-c9000-series_users-guide_en-us.pdf

19. When the MC-LAG is disrupted (e.g., after the Accused Products determines VLTi 

and back uplink failure between VLT peer switches), the MC-LAG can be reconfigured into two 

link aggregates associated with each VLT peer switch to take the primary role and continue to 

communicate traffic over link aggregates to the end node. In the Accused Products, the VLT 

backup link can be configurable. If a VLT backup link is not enabled, then during VLTi failure, 

both VLT peer switches may take primary roles to form link aggregates. 

...

https://downloads.dell.com/solutions/networking-solutionresources/Virtual%20Link%20Trunking-Reference%20Architecture%202%200_External.pdf

Case 6:20-cv-00408-ADA Document 1 Filed 05/19/20 Page 7 of 11
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https://topics-cdn.dell.com/pdf/networking-c9000-series_users-guide_en-us.pdf

20. In the event of VLTi failure causing disruption of the MC-LAG, the spanning tree 

protocol (STP) may be initiated in the first set of port interfaces to avoid a traffic loop. 

https://www.dell.com/community/s/vjauj58549/attachments/vjauj58549/Network/35449/1/Route

d%20VLT%20v1.2.pdf

21. In view of preceding paragraphs, each and every element of at least claim 8 of the 

‘489 Patent is found in the Accused Products.

22. Defendants continue to directly infringe at least one claim of the ‘489 Patent, 

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

Case 6:20-cv-00408-ADA Document 1 Filed 05/19/20 Page 8 of 11
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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 ‘489

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 ‘489 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.dell.com/en-us/work/shop/povw/networking-c9000-series

• https://www.dell.com/en-us/work/shop/productdetailstxn/force10-ftos

• https://topics-cdn.dell.com/pdf/networking-c9000-series_users-guide_en-us.pdf

• https://downloads.dell.com/solutions/networking-solutionresources/Virtual%20Link%20TrunkingReference%20Architecture%202%200_External.pdf

• https://www.dell.com/community/s/vjauj58549/attachments/vjauj58549/Network/35449

/1/Routed%20VLT%20v1.2.pdf

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

Defendants have contributed to the infringement of the ‘489 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 ‘489 Patent. The Accused 

Products are especially made or adapted for infringing the ‘489 Patent and have no substantial 

Case 6:20-cv-00408-ADA Document 1 Filed 05/19/20 Page 9 of 11
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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 ‘489 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 ‘489 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 ‘489 Patent;

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

the infringement of one or more claims of the ‘489 Patent;

(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 ‘489 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.

Case 6:20-cv-00408-ADA Document 1 Filed 05/19/20 Page 10 of 11
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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

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