Case 1:19-cv-01410-MN Document 52 Filed 08/13/20 Page 1 of 2 PageID #: 1058
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`Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati
`Professional Corporation
`
`222 Delaware Avenue
`Suite 800
`Wilmington, Delaware 19801-1600
`o: 302.304.7600
`f: 866.974.7329
`
`August 13, 2020
`
`VIA CM/ECF
`
`The Honorable Maryellen Noreika
`United States District Judge
`
`Re: VB Assets, LLC v. Amazon.com, Inc. et al., Case No. 1:19-cv-01410-MN
`
`Your Honor,
`
`In accordance with the Court’s July 9, 2020 Order (D.I. 47), Plaintiff VB Assets,
`LLC submits that the patent-eligible claims in McRO, Inc. v. Bandai Namco Games Am.
`Inc., 837 F.3d 1299 (Fed. Cir. 2016) are the most similar to challenged claims here.
`
`In McRO, the Federal Circuit held that software method claims were not directed
`to an abstract idea because they “focused on a specific asserted improvement in
`computer animation, i.e., the automatic use of rules of a particular type.” Id. at 1314. The
`court reasoned that the because representative claim 1 focused on rules of a particular
`type, it did not “simply use a computer as a tool to automate conventional activity.” Id.
`In finding that the claims were not an abstract idea, the court considered the evidence of
`prior art methods of computer animation. Id. In light of claim’s focus on particular rules
`and how these rules distinguished the claims from the prior art, the court concluded
`that: “The claim uses the limited rules in a process specifically designed to achieve an
`improved technological result in conventional industry practice.” Id. at 1316.
`
`Like in McRO, the challenged claims here teach specific improvements to voice
`user interface systems that address specific problems in prior art systems. The ’681 and
`’049 patents claim specific sets of rules that use short term shared knowledge and long
`term shared knowledge to interpret a natural language utterance. This solved problems
`with prior art “Command and Control” type systems that required a user to adhere to
`rigid speech prompts. Likewise, the ’703 patent claims a specific set of rules for
`shopping online using voice, including determining a product based on context and
`completing a transaction without further user input. This solved problems of prior art
`online shopping systems that typically required a user to browse a website to locate a
`product and fill out numerous payment and shipping forms before having the product
`delivered. Finally, the ’176, ’536 and ’097 patents claim specific sets of rules that use
`context for providing advertisements in a voice user interface system. This solved the
`problem of prior art systems that required a user to navigate through a series of menus.
`
`AUSTIN BEIJING BOSTON BRUSSELS HONG KONG LONDON LOS ANGELES NEW YORK PALO ALTO
`SAN DIEGO SAN FRANCISCO SEATTLE SHANGHAI WASHINGTON, DC WILMINGTON, DE
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`

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`Case 1:19-cv-01410-MN Document 52 Filed 08/13/20 Page 2 of 2 PageID #: 1059
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`Honorable Maryellen Noreika
`August 13, 2020
`Page 2
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`Respectfully,
`
`WILSON SONSINI GOODRICH & ROSATI
`Professional Corporation
`
`/s/ Ian Liston
`Ian Liston
`
`