The three patents at the heart of the lawsuit -- U.S. Patent numbers 5,802,366; 5,931,918; and 6,065,037 -- were each granted to Auspex. Last month, NetApp acquired the Auspex patent portfolio in a court auction with a winning bid of $8,975,000 (see NetApp Picks Up Auspex Patents, NetApp Acquires Auspex Patents, and Auspex Shuts Down).
Patents 5,802,366 and 5,931,918 are both for "Parallel I/O network file server architecture." These patents, granted to Auspex in September 1998 and August 1999 respectively, essentially describe the fundamental architecture of a NAS server, "comprising as separate processors, a network controller unit, a file controller unit, and a storage processor unit."
Meanwhile, the contributors listed for Patent 6,065,037 -- for a "multiple software-facility component operating system for co-operative processor control within a multiprocessor computer system" -- include NetApp's two founders: Dave Hitz, NetApp's executive VP of engineering, and James Lau, executive VP and chief strategy officer. Both were engineers at Auspex prior to founding Network Appliance in 1992.
Representing NetApp is Howrey Simon Arnold & White LLP, a law firm specializing in intellectual property litigation.
BlueArc, a five-year-old company that last week announced it had raised a $47 million round of funding, sells high-end NAS systems that directly compete with NetApp's core products (see BlueArc Wallows in $47M Haul).
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