US 8782282

US patent 8782282, titled "Network management system," was filed on December 19, 2003, and issued on July 15, 2014. The original assignee was Brixham Solutions Ltd, and the current assignee is K.Mizra LLC. The inventors are Eileen Zhou, Roger Liu, Vijoy Choyi, Moshe Itah, and John Z. Yu.

The abstract describes a technique for communicating in a network management system. This technique involves transferring information from an application server to a gateway for processing, then from the gateway to a plurality of associated adapters for further processing, and finally from one of the adapters to a client.

Here is a plain-language overview of the independent claims:

Independent Claim 1 (Method):
This claim outlines a method for managing network events. It begins with a "first adapter" (like a Southbound adapter) receiving event information from a network element and processing it according to a specific communication protocol. This processed information is then sent to a "first application server instance," which has been chosen from a group of servers using a load balancing process. This server instance then processes the information using an event management service. Subsequently, the processed information is sent to a "gateway device" (like a Northbound gateway), which is one of several gateways linked to the server instances. This gateway transfers the information to a "second adapter" (like a Northbound adapter) for processing based on a different communication protocol, before sending it to an Operation Support System (OSS). A key feature of this method is its resilience: if the first application server instance becomes disabled, the first adapter and the gateway device will automatically connect to a different, active application server instance within the group.

Independent Claim 3 (System):
This claim describes a system designed to perform the network management method detailed in Claim 1. It comprises:

• A "first application server instance" that receives and processes event information from a "first adapter" (which has already processed network element events using a first protocol). The server instance uses an event management service and then sends this information to a "gateway device."
• A "load balancing component" responsible for selecting this first application server instance from a pool of available application server instances based on a load balancing process.
• A "gateway device," which is one of several gateways linked to the application server instances. This gateway transfers the application server's processed information to a "second adapter" (one of multiple such adapters) for processing based on a second communication protocol, and then sends the resulting information to an Operation Support System (OSS).
• The system includes a critical fault tolerance mechanism: both the "first adapter" and the "gateway device" are configured to automatically establish an association with a "second application server instance" from the available pool if the initially selected first application server instance becomes disabled.

Litigation Status:
As of the current date (April 26, 2026), US patent 8782282 is active and is set to expire on November 29, 2029. [cite: The provided patent text] The patent has been involved in litigation. A PTAB case, IPR2025-01362, was filed but not instituted procedurally. [cite: The provided patent text] This IPR was filed by Ciena Corporation against K.Mizra LLC on August 30, 2025, and received a discretionary denial decision on January 8, 2026. Additionally, US district court cases have been filed in the Texas Western District Court [cite: The provided patent text] and the Georgia Northern District Court. [cite: The provided patent text] Unified Patents filed an ex parte reexamination proceeding against U.S. Patent 8,782,282 on May 15, 2025. On July 8, 2025, the Central Reexamination Unit (CRU) granted Unified Patents' request, finding substantial new questions of patentability on the challenged claims of the patent.