US court upholds FatPipe Networks’ patent claim on WAN load balancing

03 November 2017

FatPipe co-founders Dr. Ragula Bhaskar (left) and Sanchaita Datta say they invented the concept of SD-WAN and hybrid WANs.

FatPipe co-founders Sanchaita Datta and Dr. Ragula Bhaskar say they invented the concept of SD-WAN and hybrid WANs.

A key claim in FatPipe Networks’ patent for load balancing has been upheld by the US authorities.

Co-founders Dr. Ragula Bhaskar and Sanchaita Datta say they invented the concept of SD-WAN and hybrid WANs, and that FatPipe holds multiple patents for the technologies.

In its US patent number 6,775,235, the company describes a “system and method for communicating using two or more disparate networks in parallel, allowing for failover and load balancing of session flows and re-directing packets over multiple networks.” 

The company says this path selection ability represents the foundation of a hybrid WAN and the primary component of a SD-WAN solution. 

Over its X-year history, FatPipe has taken legal action against several companies for patent infringement, and is a fierce defender of its intellectual property. 

In its patent for load balancing, the company’s key claim states: 

“A method for combining connections for access to parallel networks, the method comprising the steps of: sending a packet to a site interface of a controller, the controller comprising the site interface which receives packets, at least two network interfaces to parallel networks, and a packet path selector which selects between the network interfaces on a per-session basis to promote load-balancing; and forwarding the packet-through the network interface selected by packet path selector; wherein the step of sending a packet to the controller site interface is repeated as multiple packets are sent, and the controller sends different packets of a given message to different parallel networks.

Earlier this month, FatPipe announced that the United States Patent and Trademark Office Patent Court has upheld this claim.

CEO Bhaskar says: “This is an important step in establishing the strength of this claim, elevating it to a super claim status.  

“Having gone through the most rigorous evaluation, we now have a the ability to protect the company’s invention on WAN load balancing for VoIP, VPN and data traffic for corporate networks. 

“Along with other FatPipe Networks’ patents, this claim ensures that VoIP, video, VPN and all data traffic can be load balanced and failed over without dropping sessions providing a superior SD-WAN product for customers. The benefits to customers are huge.”

The company adds that this patent, together with 10 additional patents and more than 180 technological claims, cover the full spectrum of hybrid WAN and SD-WAN technology.