Invalidity dossier
US 7529834
Method and system for cooperatively backing up data on computers in a network
Current assignee: Hewlett Packard Development Co LP
Added 9/23/2026, 2:10:26 PM
Active provider: DeepSeek · deepseek-flash
Patent summary
Title, assignee, inventors, filing/issue dates, abstract, and a plain-language overview of the claims.
Patent Overview — US7529834B1
Title: Method and system for cooperatively backing up data on computers in a network
Patent number: US7529834B1 | Application number: US09/668,643 | Inventors: Andrew David Birrell, Mark David Lillibridge, Michael Burrows, Michael Acheson Isard | Original assignee: Hewlett Packard Development Co LP (earlier assignments to Compaq Computer Corporation and Compaq Information Technologies Group, L.P.) | Priority date: 2000-06-02 | Filing date: 2000-09-22 | Publication/grant date: 2009-05-05 | Status as listed: Expired – Fee Related, adjusted expiration 2023-09-28.
Purpose: The patent addresses data archiving — safeguarding file systems against irrevocable loss — and targets self-maintenance and effective backup administration "in the absence of central control," with the goal of freeing the system from user intervention or system administration. It states that traditional backup requires manual handling (slow, error-prone, dependent on human diligence) or expensive, complex automated handling, and that storage-for-pay schemes may suit some users but not others.
Plain-language scope: A distributed cooperative backup system in which a loose confederation of computers connected via a network (e.g., Internet and/or LAN) form reciprocal backup partnerships, agreeing to help back up each other's data, thereby creating distributed storage space. A computer selects potential backup partners based on predetermined criteria, negotiates reciprocal agreements based on predetermined requirements including backup requirements, then forms partnerships (multiple reciprocal agreements among groups, not just one). Data to be backed up is encoded; data is periodically backed up at partners, and the system periodically verifies that previously backed up data is retained. The invention contemplates individually unreliable and untrustworthy computers with an overall reliable and secure system. Restoration of data from backup partners is also described. An optional broker server can assist the computers. Figures cover backup operations, verifying retention, selecting a new partner, generating/distributing encoded data, and restoration.
Source: https://patents.google.com/patent/[US7529834](/patent/US7529834)/en
What the excerpt does not establish: It does not establish the full text of the claims, the complete specification, the exact negotiated criteria or encoding scheme, any legal conclusions about validity or infringement, or the accuracy of the listed legal status and assignee data (expressly disclaimed as assumptions by the source).
Generated 10/1/2026, 9:52:29 PM
Cases on file (0)
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Litigation summary
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Proceedings on file (0)
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No PTAB proceedings on file. This patent has not been challenged via IPR, PGR, or CBM. The absence is itself a signal — well-asserted patents eventually attract IPRs. The LLM analysis below may surface filings the ODP feed hasn’t indexed yet.
PTAB challenges
AIA trial proceedings at the USPTO Patent Trial and Appeal Board — IPR, PGR, and CBM. Petitioners, judge panels, claim-level invalidation outcomes from Final Written Decisions, and Federal Circuit appeals. The single most important defensive datapoint after litigation history.
Assignment history
Inventors, original assignee, and the chain of ownership recorded with the USPTO — including the correspondent attorney who recorded each assignment, since shell-LLC chains often share one repeat-player attorney even when the entity names look unrelated. Surfaces NPE / patent-troll patterns: shell-entity transfers, known asserters in the chain, repeat correspondent fingerprints, pre-litigation assignments, and bankruptcy fire-sales.
Prior art
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Obviousness
Combinations of prior art that suggest the claimed invention would have been obvious under 35 U.S.C. § 103.
Extensions
Patent term adjustments, term extensions, continuations, divisionals, family members, and expiration dates.
Derivative works
Defensive disclosure: derivative variations of each claim designed to render future incremental improvements obvious or non-novel.