The Electronic Frontier Foundation is hoping that the saga of US Patent No. 8,473,532 will serve as a reminder that many universities aren't doing what they can to make the patent system work better. The '532 patent, "Method and apparatus for automatic organization for computer files," describes little more than a system of sorting files into folders. That alone would be enough to make it the Electronic Frontier Foundation's pick for "Stupid Patent of the Month."

In September, Louisiana Tech went on to strike a deal with an entity called Micoba LLC to enforce the patent, which resulted in a series of 11 lawsuits filed later in the year, all in the Eastern District of Texas. Defendants in those lawsuits include seven defendants that already appear to have settled the claims, since the federal court records show their cases are closed: Syncplicity , iDrive, Dropbox, SpiderOak, Workshare Technology, Egnyte, and Carbonite. Four other companies—Asustek, Box , Citrix, and SugarSync—have ongoing litigation.

The lawsuits accuse the companies of having products that automatically sort files into folders based on the names of the files and the folders. The allegedly infringed claim is number 13, which reads:

A computer system comprising a processor, memory, and software for automatically organizing computer files into folders, said software causing said computer system to execute the steps comprising: a. providing a directory of folders, wherein substantially each of said folders is represented by a description; b. providing a new computer file not having a location in said directory, said computer file being represented by a description; c. comparing said description of said computer file to descriptions of a plurality of said folders along a single path from a root folder to a leaf folder; and d. assigning said computer file to a folder having the most similar description.

"In other words, put files into folders that contain similar files," writes EFF lawyer Daniel Nazer. "Do it 'on a computer system' (in case you were worried office workers from the 1930s might have infringed this patent)."

The patent's specification describes representing folders and files as mathematical vectors. "But, even assuming this was a new idea when the application was filed in 2003, many of the patent's claims are not limited to this method," Nazer notes. "The patent effectively captures almost any technique for automatically sorting digital files into folders."

According to RPX, Micoba is part of a major patent-trolling network called IP Edge , which also controls eDekka , the most litigious patent assertion entity of 2014, and Bartonfalls , which won EFF's October 2016 Stupid Patent of the Month for a patent on changing the channel . Its law firm is Puerto Rico-based Ferraiuoli LLC, which filed more patent suits in 2016 than any other firm.

"Bartonfalls’ trolling campaign recently collapsed when a judge ruled that its patent infringement contentions were "implausible on their face,'" writes Nazer. "If RPX is correct that these companies are connected, Louisiana Tech has hitched its wagon to one of the biggest trolling operations in the nation."

Public Service?

Louisiana Tech University is proud of being a public institution "committed to quality in teaching, research, creative activity, public service, and workforce/economic development." So how does that mission statement square with getting a patent on something as basic as putting computer files in folders and then partnering with a clear patent assertion company to sue several companies?

"I will reach out to some of our IP and commercialization folks and see if I can get you an appropriate contact," Louisiana Tech Communications Director Dave Guerin told Ars via e-mail on Friday. He didn't respond to further inquiries.

The inventor of the '532 patent is Louisiana Tech computer science professor Chee Hung Ben Choi, (whose name appears as Chee Hung Ben on patent documents). Choi didn't return a call and e-mail requesting comment on his patent.

EFF has a new campaign called "Reclaim Invention," in which it's asking universities to pledge not to do exactly what Louisiana Tech did. The "Public Interest Patent Pledge" is an agreement that a university will assess the business practices of a third party before licensing or selling patents to them.