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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.

MICROSOFT CORPORATION,

Defendant.

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CIVIL ACTION NO. 6:20-cv-456

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 

Microsoft Corporation (“Microsoft” or “Defendant”) 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 Microsoft Corporation is incorporated

under the laws of Washington State with its principal place of business at 1 Microsoft Way, 

Redmond, Washington 98052. Microsoft may be served with process through its registered agent 

Corporation Service Company, 211 East 7th Street, Suite 620, Austin, Texas 78701.

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4. On information and belief, Microsoft has been registered to do business in the 

state of Texas under Texas SOS file number 0010404606 since about March 1987.

5. On information and belief, Microsoft has had regular and established places of 

business in this judicial district since at least 2002.

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 Microsoft pursuant 

to due process and/or the Texas Long Arm Statute, because Microsoft has committed acts giving 

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

over Microsoft would not offend traditional notions of fair play and substantial justice because 

Microsoft has established minimum contacts with the forum. For example, on information and 

belief, Microsoft 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). 

10. This district was deemed to be a proper venue for patent cases against Microsoft 

in actions bearing docket numbers: 6-19-cv-00572 (Zeroclick, LLC v. Microsoft Corporation ); 6-

19-cv-00687 (Exafer, Ltd. v. Microsoft Corporation.); and 6-19-cv-00399 (Neodron Ltd. v. 

Microsoft Corporation).

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17. On information and belief, Microsoft owns and operates multiple datacenters in 

the judicial district, including without limitation data centers located at 5150 Rogers Road, San 

Antonio, Texas 78251; 5200 Rogers Road, San Antonio, Texas 78251; 3823 Weisman Boulevard, 

San Antonio, Texas 78251; and 15000 Lambda Drive, San Antonio, Texas 782245. 

18. On information and belief, Microsoft utilizes its datacenter locations in this 

judicial district as regular and established places of business. As a non-limiting example, the data 

centers in San Antonio are referred to within Microsoft as “US Gov Texas.” 

19. On information and belief, thousands of customers who rely on the infringing 

datacenter infrastructure that Microsoft’s engineering and operations teams have built, reside in 

this judicial district.

COUNT ONE - INFRINGEMENT OF 

U.S. PATENT NO. 7,676,550

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

Complaint.

21. On March 9, 2010, the United States Patent and Trademark Office duly and 

legally issued U.S. Patent No. 7,676,550 (“the ’550 Patent”), entitled “Multiple Access Presence 

Agent.” A true and correct copy of the ’550 Patent is attached as Exhibit A to this Complaint.

22. Brazos is the owner of all rights, title, and interest in and to the ’550 Patent, 

including the right to assert all causes of action arising under the ’550 Patent and the right to any 

remedies for the infringement of the ’550 Patent.

23. Microsoft makes, uses, sells, offers for sale, imports, and/or distributes in the 

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

Case 6:20-cv-00456 Document 1 Filed 06/02/20 Page 5 of 16
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group meeting platforms, including Microsoft Skype for Business (collectively, the “Accused 

Products”).

24. Skype for Business, for example, was developed by Microsoft and provides an 

online audio and video meeting platform. Skype for Business allows multiple users to collaborate 

online. Users establish their presence on the common platform so that other users can establish a 

communication session based on their availability. The Accused Products provide an availability 

(presence) system having multiple users and administrators and an associated server for rights 

management and other functions. 

https://www.microsoft.com/en-in/download/details.aspx?id=49440

25. Users of the Accused Products can provide their presence information to a server 

associated with the Accused Products, such as a Skype for Business Server. The presence 

information for a user includes availability status, location, personal status messages, color-coded 

presence indicator, location, schedule, and any personal message. 

https://support.office.com/en-us/article/control-access-to-your-presence-information-in-skypefor-business-fea86e34-60cf-4dd0-bfb2-169a42afd92c

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https://support.office.com/en-us/article/change-your-presence-status-in-skype-for-business9b64eef5-47b8-46d8-a744-f490e6f88feb

26. The Accused Products allow an organization administrator to manage the users 

by entrusting control of specific management tasks to employees. The employees are given rights 

of Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) roles. These employees can do management tasks from 

their account. The RBAC Roles can be given specific rights such as the right to manage only user 

accounts or the right to manage only enterprise voice components etc.

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/module/skype/get-csadminrole?view=skype-ps

27. When an administrator sets up Skype for Business Server for an organization, for 

example, several universal security groups such as CsAdministrator, CsArchivingAdministrator, 

and CsViewOnlyAdministrator are created based on RBAC roles. Thus, a user who is in one of 

the security groups has the rights granted of the respective group, such as when a user who is a 

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part of CsAdministrator security group has the rights granted to CsAdministrator RBAC role.

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/module/skype/get-csadminrole?view=skype-ps

28. Administrators can have different rights and privileges and can perform 

respective management tasks by accessing sets of information based on their rights. The 

administrators can contribute to the presence information of both general users and other 

administrators. Skype for Business, for example, includes both general users and administrators of 

varying levels, which are part of the system for managing presence information.

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/module/skype/setcsprivacyconfiguration?view=skype-ps.

29. Administrators are entitled to control specific management tasks. An 

administrator can be entitled to manage users, which can allow the administrator to access 

information about the user and configure the default values of presence information.

30. A user can access and modify their respective values of presence information, 

such as their availability, location, and to whom the information will be displayed. The presence 

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information of Skype for Business users is stored remotely from the users, such as on a Skype 

server.

https://support.office.com/en-us/article/control-access-to-your-presence-information-in-skypefor-business-fea86e34-60cf-4dd0-bfb2-169a42afd92c

https://support.office.com/en-us/article/change-your-presence-status-in-skype-for-business9b64eef5-47b8-46d8-a744-f490e6f88feb

31. An administrator with appropriate permissions can modify the presence 

information based on the administrator rights. An administrator can access information on a Skype 

server, for example, to manage the presence information of users and other administrators 

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depending upon the rights and privileges of the administrator.

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/module/skype/setcsprivacyconfiguration?view=skype-ps

32. For example, a Skype server manages the presence information and determines 

the rights for an administrator associated with a Skype for Business account. In this example, to 

access Skype for Business, an administrator must log-in through Skype for Business application 

by providing their respective credentials. The Skype server also authenticates users to verify their

identity and determine respective rights and privileges. 

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/SkypeForBusiness/opbuildpdf/sfbotoc/TOC.pdf?branch=live

33. As an example, an administrator can configure the default location data such that 

other users (as presence contributors) cannot see the presence information. An administrator also 

has the option to change attributes of the presence information. The administrator can enable the

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presence information of the users to make it visible to contacts or other users. Skype server 

implements the setting that is changed by the administrator to display the presence information 

based on the configuration.

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/module/skype/setcsprivacyconfiguration?view=skype-ps

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/skypeforbusiness/set-up-skype-for-business-online/configurepresence-in-skype-for-business-online

34. The Skype server enables the administrator to access the presence information of 

the users. Skype Server checks the specific rights and privileges of an administrator to allow access 

to the presence information based on the role assigned. For example, if an administrator role is 

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entitled to a management task associated with the part of the presence information, the presence 

information of users will be filtered by the server, and the administrator will access that part of the 

information. This filtered information is received by software installed on the device of the 

administrator, such as Skype for Business. As an example, a helpdesk employee can be given 

rights to manage user accounts and other users can be given archiving rights. The helpdesk 

administrator can see information related to user accounts in a certain location or group while the 

archiving administrator can see information related to chat history. 

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/module/skype/get-csadminrole?view=skype-ps

35. The Accused Products include software, such as Skype for Business, that

provides a graphical user interface enabling an administrator to access attributes of the presence 

information. The administrator can access only the filtered presence information in which the 

administrator is entitled based on the role and the access rules and can update the filtered presence 

information. As an example, an administrator can disable the presence information so that it will 

not be visible to other contacts or users blocked by the user. 

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https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/skypeforbusiness/set-up-skype-for-business-online/configurepresence-in-skype-for-business-online

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/SkypeForBusiness/opbuildpdf/sfbotoc/TOC.pdf?branch=live

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

the ’550 Patent is found in the Accused Products.

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37. Microsoft has and continues to directly infringe at least one claim of the ’550

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.

38. Microsoft has received notice and actual or constructive knowledge of the ’550

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

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

has actively induced product makers, distributors, retailers, and/or end users of the Accused 

Products to infringe the ’550 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://support.office.com/en-us/article/change-your-presence-status-in-skypefor-business-9b64eef5-47b8-46d8-a744-f490e6f88feb

• https://support.office.com/en-us/article/control-access-to-your-presenceinformation-in-skype-for-business-fea86e34-60cf-4dd0-bfb2-169a42afd92c

• https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/module/skype/getcsadminrole?view=skype-ps

• https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/module/skype/setcsprivacyconfiguration?view=skype-ps

• https://docs.microsoft.com/enus/SkypeForBusiness/opbuildpdf/sfbotoc/TOC.pdf?branch=live

• https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/skypeforbusiness/set-up-skype-for-businessonline/configure-presence-in-skype-for-business-online

• https://support.office.com/en-us/article/change-your-presence-status-in-skypefor-business-9b64eef5-47b8-46d8-a744-f490e6f88feb

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

has contributed to the infringement of the ’550 Patent by having others sell, offer for sale, or use 

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the Accused Products throughout the United States, including within this judicial district, with

knowledge that the Accused Products infringe the ’550 Patent. The Accused Products are 

especially made or adapted for infringing the ’550 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 ’550 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 Microsoft infringes one or more claims of the ’550 Patent 

literally and/or under the doctrine of equivalents;

(B) Enter judgment that Microsoft has induced infringement and continues to 

induce infringement of one or more claims of the ’550 Patent;

(C) Enter judgment that Microsoft has contributed to and continues to contribute 

to the infringement of one or more claims of the ’550 Patent;

(D) Award Brazos damages, to be paid by Microsoft in an amount adequate to 

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

for the infringement by Microsoft of the ’550 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.

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Dated: June 2, 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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