Dot Hill Systems and CommVault Systems: Reading Between the Hype

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This week’s Patently Obvious report focuses on the patent holdings of Dot Hill Systems and CommVault Systems. M&A activity in the technology sector continues to be white-hot in the wake of Hewlett-Packard’s acquisition of ArcSight and 3PAR. As in previous weeks, news of imminent rollups in the storage and security sectors has driven further speculation into the identity of the next impending targets.

One potential acquisition target which has been in the news is CommVault Systems (NASDAQ: CVLT). A spinoff from AT&T’s Bell Labs, CommVault, like 3PAR and Isilon Systems, specializes in data and storage management software. CommVault fits the profile of a potential acquisition target for information technology giants such as HP, Dell, or Oracle; Dell, especially, is incentivized to pursue acquisitions in the wake of its failed bid for 3PAR opposite Hewlett-Packard.

CommVault isn’t the only potential acquisition target, however. In fact, some of the more interesting targets haven’t yet popped up on the radars of the major tech sector analysts and forecasters. One of these companies is Dot Hill Systems (NASDAQ: HILL). M•CAM identified both CommVault and Dot Hill Systems, among others, though its proprietary analytical processes. Which entity seems to be a better acquisition target in today’s market, the “obvious” choice or the dark horse candidate? An analysis of each company’s IP is in order to better address this question.

This report focuses on entities of interest with patents and innovations that predate or coexist with the holdings of Dot Hill Systems and CommVault, Inc., as well as public-domain alternatives.