The Cloud Native Heroes Challenge Participation Instructions

Overview

The goal of the Cloud Native Heroes Challenge is to engage technologists in the CNCF community to help defeat patent trolls that threaten adopters of cloud native open source technology with frivolous litigation.

Our most effective counter-attack against these trolls is to disarm their weapons – the patents that they use to attack adopters of cloud native tech.

You, the CNCF community, are in a natural position to help as your domain expertise can determine whether a technical patent is invalid. 

To do that, you need to know the basics about how patents work and how they can be challenged. 

Once you know how to subvert these patents, you’ll be able to challenge more and more of them, defend our community, and win some prize money along the way!

Step-by-Step Instructions

Step 1: Sign up for a PATROLL account

The first thing you need to do is to sign up for a PATROLL account (see instructional video). 

PATROLL is the platform hosted by Unified Patents, our partner in troll deterrence, to administer crowdsourced prior art contests.

Step 2: View the contest information on the PATROLL platform

Once you have an account, view the information for current contests on the PATROLL platform. This video explains what information about the patent is relevant.

Each contest consists of a patent that should be challenged, a description of the specific claims within that patent to challenge, a dollar number representing the prize awarded to the best claim chart submitted, and the claim chart template itself. 

A patent also includes its own set of prior art supplied by the inventor or added by the patent examiner. This set does not account for every possible bit of prior art that exists (and which we are trying to find to invalidate it).

Step 3: Start your research

Click into the patent itself, which is formatted on the PATROLL platform (or portal) based on the patent itself but presented in an easier to read format, along with some additional analysis of the patent by Unified Patents.

Take note of a few things here: 

• The priority date. The prior art you are looking for needs to predate the priority date.
• The abstract that describes the invention at a high level. This will help you formulate your initial search query.
• The specific claims. These will help you zero in on the exact parts of this patent that need to be invalidated by the prior art you find.
• The citations. These are the known prior art. What you find needs to be different than what’s referenced here.

Then use one of the tools listed below or one of the tools already linked to (with a pre-populated search query) in the “Overview” tab of the contest that you’re entering. See the “How to conduct a prior art search” section of the PATROLL help center for more details and a helpful video.

Have questions about the research tools? Not sure if the resource you found qualifies as “prior art”? Schedule a one-on-one office hours session with us and we’ll walk you through the process. Message us at heroes@cncf.io or in the CNCF Slack channel #heroes-challenge with your questions or to request a one-on-one help session.

Step 4: Fill out the claim chart

Once you’ve found what you think represents prior art that predates the priority date, and that shows that it describes the same thing as what’s claimed in the patent, and which isn’t already listed as prior art you will need to package it into a claim chart.

Download the template from the PATROLL contest description. You can edit the template in Microsoft Word, or upload the .docx file into Google Docs to edit.

See information in the FAQ, Glossary, and Detailed Explanations section below.

Enter this information:

• The contest name, your name, your email, the dates on the prior art you found that should pre-date the patent grant
• The claim or claims that you are invalidating with the prior art you found (for some contests this information will already be included in the template)
• The citation of the prior art you found, along with any specific excerpts that are relevant to the claim (see citation format instructions below)
• Any additional citations, usually around 3-5 total

See the “How to fill out the claim chart” section of the PATROLL website for additional details and a helpful video.

We know this can be confusing. Need help constructing a claim chart for the first time? Schedule a one-on-one office hours session with us and we’ll walk you through the process. Message us at heroes@cncf.io or in the CNCF Slack channel #heroes-challenge to request a session.

Step 5: Submit and become a cloud native hero!

When done, go back to the contest page and locate the “Add Your Submission” button at the bottom of the page. Enter the priority date or publication date, a description of what the claim chart, then upload your claim chart. 

See the “How to Submit” section of the PATROLL help center for additional details and a helpful video.

You can repeat steps 4 and 5 with any additional claim charts you’ve completed. As a general rule, each claim chart should present prior art resources (could be a single resource or multiple resources) that are sufficient to describe all elements of the challenged patent claim. 

FAQs, Glossary, and Detailed Explanations

What is a patent?

A patent is a set of exclusive rights granted by a state to an inventor or assignee for a fixed period of time in exchange for a disclosure of an invention.

In other words, it’s an agreement that if you share the details behind your brilliant idea for the long-term benefit of humanity you alone will have the right to practice your invention for 20 years and exclude others from doing so (unless they get permission from you).

A patentable idea must demonstrate novelty by being:

• New: The idea cannot be previously disclosed or patented and cannot have been publicly used/offered for more than 1 year
• Useful: It must achieve a desired objective or solve a problem
• Non-obvious: Not easily derived by someone skilled in the area of the invention

When assessing an invention for patentability, both the inventor and a patent office depend on research to understand if the invention is “new” and “non-obvious” at the time the patent is applied for. The key data for that assessment is whether “prior art” already exists.

What is a patent claim?

A claim or claims are the key part of a patent document. They assert the new, useful, and non-obvious parts of an invention. Everything else in the patent is used to support these claims. For example diagrams, a list of steps, and examples are used to support the claims.

What is prior art?

Prior art is anything that can show that the invention was not new when the patent application was submitted. If it is not new, the patent is therefore invalid. Non-Practicing Entities (NPEs) buy patents and threaten adopters with infringement lawsuits in order to make money without having to make actual products or participate in the industry. 

Providing prior art evidence to the patent office is how we disarm the troll’s weapon! You can’t succeed in a patent infringement lawsuit against cloud native adopters if your invention wasn’t new at the time the patent application was filed! Forms of prior art include any publicly available information that predates the application date (a.k.a. As the “priority date’) of the patent, including:

• Other pre-existing patents, whether US or international
• Published disclosure of the invention in part or whole (non-patent literature)
• Open source software
• Articles, books, videos, documentation

So the key goal for this challenge is to look at the patent for a particular contest and find any publicly documented instances of prior art. If your prior submission is selected as the winning entry, you can win a cash prize.

What are the various patent numbers and dates?

Each issued patent has several unique identifiers. The most well-known is the grant number for the patent. Other numbers represent the application and publication numbers, which represent the initial application for a patent. 

There are also several dates associated with a given patent such as the application date and grant date. The only one that’s important in this context is the priority date. The priority date is provided in the “Overview” of the contest information. Any prior art you find needs to predate this date.

What is the “priority date”?

A patent priority date is the earliest filing date accorded to the patent. The contest priority date will be provided by Unified Patents with each contest in the “Overview” of the contest.

Prior art materials in a contest entry must have a publication date or priority date that is earlier than the priority date for the contest.

Priority Date for US patents

To be used as prior art in PATROLL contests, US patents and US patent publications should have a filing date (aka priority date) that predates the priority date assigned to the contest. The filing date is found next to the “(22)” section on the first page of a US patent or patent publication. 

Priority Date for non-US patents

To be used as prior art in PATROLL contests, non-US patents and non-US patent publications must have a publication date (aka priority date) that predates the priority date assigned to the contest. The publication date is found next to the “(43)” section of the foreign patent or foreign patent publication.

Publication Date for other prior art

To be used as prior art in PATROLL contests, non-patent publications should have a publication date that predates the priority date assigned to the contest.

What types of resources qualify as prior art?

Resources that can be submitted as prior art include:

• Other patents with an earlier priority date than the challenged patent
• Non-patent literature, as long as there’s a reliable way to confirm that the publication date is earlier than the priority date of the challenged patent. Examples of non-patent literature include:
  • Anything publicly available (e.g., on a website) prior to the Priority Date of the challenged patent
  • Open source documentation, including release notes
  • Standards documents
  • Journal articles, magazine articles
  • Technical documentation, product manuals, etc. 
  • Books
  • Articles

If an online prior art resource doesn’t include a publication date, you can demonstrate it was published prior to the challenged patent priority date using Archive.org.

Is there a particular citation format I should use?

Yes. See instructions below for citing patent prior art and non-patent prior art below. 

In general, citations have two parts: 1) a reference to the name of the prior art and 2) a reference to where within that piece of prior art the quote (or figure) can be found. While there are many ways this can be done, some commonly used formats with different options for abbreviations are shown below.

Citation format for patent literature

Easy ways to cite to a patent or patent publication (U.S., or foreign) include using the last three numbers of their patent number, or using the last name of the first named inventor of the patent, which is found next to the “(72)” section on each patent publication.

• U.S. Patent 1,234,567 = 567 Patent
• U.S. Patent Publication 1999/7654321 = 321 Patent
• Patent with first named inventor Robert Smith = Smith

For prior art that has numbered columns and numbered lines (e.g., issued U.S. Patents), the citation should include the column(s) and line(s) in which the quote that is being cited appears.

Citing lines seven through ten of column three of U.S. Patent 1,234,567	567 Patent at Col. 3, Ln. 7-10	567 Patent at 3:7-10
Citing line sixty-five of column four through line three of column five of patent with inventor Robert Smith	Smith at Col. 4, Ln. 65-Col. 5, Ln. 3	Smith at 4:65-5:3

For prior art that includes numbered paragraphs (e.g., U.S. Patent Publications, some foreign patent publications), the citation should include the paragraph(s) in which the quote that is being cited appears.

Citing a sentence within paragraph sixty-five of U.S. Patent 1,234,567	567 Patent at Para. 0065	567 Patent at ¶ 0065	567 Patent at [0065]
Citing paragraphs one hundred through one hundred one of patent with inventor Robert Smith	Smith at Para. 0100-0101	Smith at ¶¶ 0100-0101	Smith at [0100]-[0101]

For prior art that has numbered pages and numbered lines (e.g., some foreign patent publications), the citation should include the column(s) and line(s) in which the quote that is being cited appears.

Citing a quote within lines eight through nine on page six of U.S. Patent 1,234,567	567 Patent at Pg. 6, Ln. 8-9	567 Patent at 6:8-9
Citing a quote starting at line 12 of page seven and going through line four of page 8 of of patent with inventor Robert Smith	Smith at Pg. 7, Ln. 12-Pg. 8, Ln. 4	Smith at Pg. 7:12-8:4

When citing to figures of patent literature, these are cited by the figure number.

Citing figure 5 of U.S. Patent 1,234,567	567 Patent at Figure 5	567 Patent at Fig. 5
Citing figures 5 and 6 of patent with inventor Robert Smith	Smith at Figures 6-7	Smith at Figs. 6-7

Citation format for all other prior art

When citing to non-patent literature, a short name can be used for the name of the document. Alternatively, the last name of the first author can be used.

• ANSI/IEEE Std. 802.11, 1999 Edition = 802.11-1999
• Jeffery et al., Rearchitecting Kubernetes for the Edge (April 26, 2021) = Jeffrey

For prior art that has only page numbers (e.g., most non-patent literature), the citation should include the page on which the quote is found. If the prior art includes a figure, the citation should cite the figure number and the page on which the figure is found.

Citing a quote found on page two of ANSI/IEEE Std. 802.11, 1999 Edition	802.11-1999 at pg. 2	802.11-1999 at 2
Citing a quote found on pages three to four of Jeffery et al., Rearchitecting Kubernetes for the Edge (April 26, 2021)	Jeffrey at pg. 3-4	Jeffrey at 3-4
Citing a figure found on page four of ANSI/IEEE Std. 802.11, 1999 Edition	802.11-1999 at pg. 4, Figure 5	802.11-1999 at 4, Fig. 5

Resources

• Google Patents – An easy way to search for Patents and non-patent literature from Google Scholar.
• USPTO Patent Public Search – The canonical source of up to the minute patent grants and applications in the USA.
• Prior Art Database on ip.com – A great place to search for non-patent literature. Companies often publish inventions anonymously when they elect not to submit a patent application due to cost or limited value, but at the same time want to prove that they indeed came up with the idea first to protect themselves from others who may later claim the invention.
• The Internet Archive and its WayBack Machine – Where you can find timestamped evidence of what a website contained on a given date.
• GitHub – Hopefully you’re already familiar with this :). A place to find versioned code, documentation, and other materials and their date of creation.
• The PATROLL contest platform Help Center, which includes helpful instructional videos

Have questions? Need help?

Still have questions? We’re here to help! Please message us at heroes@cncf.io or in the CNCF Slack channel #heroes-challenge to ask a question or to request a one-on-one “office hours” meeting with a member of the Cloud Native Heroes Challenge team. 

We are happy to provide guidance on any aspect of the process–whether it’s how to search for prior art, how to use the contest platform, or how to construct a claim chart.