throbber

`
`
`
`
`
`UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
`CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
`
`
` CASE NO: 2:13-CV-05980
`)
`BLACK HILLS MEDIA, LLC,
`
`)
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
` CIVIL
`)
`
`
`
`Plaintiff,
`
`)
`vs.
`
`
`
`) Los Angeles, California
`
`
`
`
`
`
`PIONEER CORPORATION, ET AL, )
`Tuesday, November 12, 2013
`
`
`)
` (8:43 a.m. to 11:10 a.m.)
`
`
`
`Defendants.
`)
`
`BLACK HILLS MEDIA, LLC,
`)
`
`
`
`
`Plaintiff,
`)
`
`vs.
`
`
`
`)
` CASE NO: 2:13-CV-06054
`
`
`
`
`
`
`)
`YAMAHA CORPORATION
`
`)
`
`OF AMERICA,
`
`
`
`)
`
`
`
`Defendant.
`)
`
`BLACK HILLS MEDIA, LLC,
`)
`
`
`
`
`Plaintiff,
`)
` CASE NO: 2:13-CV-06055
`vs.
`
`
`
`)
`
`
`
`
`
`
`)
`LOGITECH, INC, ET AL,
`
`)
`
`
`
`
`Defendants.
`)
`BLACK HILLS MEDIA, LLC,
`)
`
`
`
`
`Plaintiff,
`)
`
`vs.
`
`
`
`)
` CASE NO: 2:13-CV-06062
`
`
`
`
`
`
`)
`SONOS, INC,
`
`
`
`)
`
`)
`
`
`
`Defendant.
`
`SCHEDULING CONFERENCE
`
`BEFORE THE HONORABLE S. JAMES OTERO,
`UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
`
`
`
`See Page 2
`Appearances:
`
`Margarita Ramirez
`Court Recorder:
`
`Exceptional Reporting Services, Inc.
`
`Transcribed by:
`P.O. Box 18668
`
`
`
`
`
`Corpus Christi, TX 78480-8668
`
`
`
`
`
`361 949-2988
`
`
`
`
`
`
`Proceedings recorded by electronic sound recording;
`transcript produced by transcription service.
`
`EXCEPTIONAL REPORTING SERVICES, INC
`
`
`
`

`

`
`
`2
`
`APPEARANCES FOR:
`
`
`
`Plaintiff:
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`Defendants:
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`JONATHAN R. DEBLOIS, ESQ.
`Hayes Messina Gilman & Hayes
`300 Brickstone Square, 9th Floor
`Andover, MA 01810
`ROBERT R. GILMAN, ESQ.
`Hayes Messina Gilman & Hayes
`200 State Street, 6th Floor
`Boston, MA 02109
`MATTHEW C. LAPPLE, ESQ.
`Lapple IP Law, PC
`18101 Von Karman Avenue, 3rd Floor
`Irvine, CA 92612
`
`VINCENT J. BELUSKO, ESQ.
`MARTIN M. NOONEN, ESQ.
`ALEX S. YAP, ESQ.
`Morrison & Foerster
`707 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 6000
`Los Angeles, CA 90017
`DAVID L. FEHRMAN, ESQ.
`Morrison & Foerster
`Shin-Marunouchi Building
`5-1 Marunouchi 1-Chome 29th Floor
`Chiyoda-ku Tokyo 100-6529
`Japan
`ROBERT S. HILL, ESQ.
`HAROLD A. BARZA, ESQ.
`Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan
`865 S. Figueroa St., 10th Floor
`Los Angeles, CA 90012
`DONALD L. RIDGE, ESQ.
`Morris Polich & Purdy
`1055 West Seventh Street, Suite 2400
`Los Angeles, CA 90017
`
`EXCEPTIONAL REPORTING SERVICES, INC
`
`

`

`
`
`APPEARANCES FOR:
`
`
`
`Defendants:
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`Deputy Clerk:
`
`Law Clerks:
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`3
`
`(CONTINUED)
`
`GEORGE I. LEE, ESQ.
`CHRISTOPHER D. BUTTS, ESQ.
`McDonnell Boehnen Hulbert & Berghoff
`300 S. Wacker Dr., 31st Floor
`Chicago, IL 60606
`Victor Paul Cruz
`Maria Elena Stiteler
`Scott Dubois
`Michael Martinez
`
`
`
`EXCEPTIONAL REPORTING SERVICES, INC
`
`

`

`
`
`4
`
`Los Angeles, California; Tuesday, November 12, 2013; 8:43 a.m.
`(Call to Order)
`THE CLERK: Okay. All rise and come to order. This
`United States District Court, Central District of California,
`is now in session, the Honorable S. James Otero presiding.
`Okay. Calling cases -- Item Number 1, CV13-5980,
`United -- excuse me -- SJO, Black Hills Media versus Pioneer
`Corporation, et al., Case Number 2:CV13-6054-SJO; Black Hills
`Media versus Yamaha Corporation of America, Case Number 3:CV13-
`6055-SJO; Black Hills Media versus Logitech, Inc. -- but that
`case is now settled -- calling Number 4, CV13-6062-SJO, Black
`Hills Media, LLC versus Sonos, Inc. Counsel, would you please
`go to the lectern and state your appearances or you can see --
`THE COURT: Would -- it would be helpful to have
`their cards. Do you have their cards?
`THE CLERK: I don’t, Judge, but I’ll get some.
`THE COURT: Let’s start with appearances for
`Plaintiff.
`MR. DEBLOIS: Jonathan Deblois for Black Hills, your
`
`Honor.
`
`MR. GILMAN: Good morning, your Honor. Robert Gilman
`for Black Hills.
`MR. LAPPLE: Matt Lapple for Black Hills, your Honor.
`MR. BELUSKO: Good morning, your Honor. Vincent
`Belusko for Yamaha Corporation of America, and with me is David
`EXCEPTIONAL REPORTING SERVICES, INC
`
`
`1
`2
`3
`4
`5
`6
`7
`8
`9
`10
`11
`12
`13
`14
`15
`16
`17
`18
`19
`20
`21
`22
`23
`24
`25
`
`

`

`
`
`5
`
`1
`2
`3
`4
`5
`6
`7
`8
`9
`10
`11
`12
`13
`14
`15
`16
`17
`18
`19
`20
`21
`22
`23
`24
`25
`
`Fehrman, Martin Noonen, and Alex Yap. I understand your
`preference today. Mr. Fehrman will talk tutorial and
`Mr. Noonen will deal with scheduling issues.
`THE COURT: Thank you.
`MR. BELUSKO: Thank you.
`MR. BARZA: Good morning, your Honor. Harold Barza
`of Quinn Emanuel representing Pioneer. I have with me my
`colleague, Robert Hill, and he will be addressing the issues
`that Pioneer will address for you today.
`THE COURT: Thank you.
`MR. RIDGE: Good morning, your Honor. Donald Ridge,
`George Lee, and Christopher Butts for Sonos, Inc.
`THE COURT: Good morning.
`MR. RIDGE: Good morning.
`THE COURT: Okay. Is that all -- do we have all
`appearances? Okay. Please have -- feel free to take a seat
`and get comfortable. The matter is here for a scheduling
`conference. On September 24th, the Court issued an order
`coordinating cases denying Plaintiff’s motion for leave to file
`a proposed second amended complaint but allowing the Plaintiff
`to file a revised second amended complaint, which has been
`accomplished. And then the Court set the matter today for
`discussion of scheduling issues, discussion regarding overview
`of the case, and then a tutorial. So let’s start with the
`tutorial. And how do you intend to present this? What’s the
`EXCEPTIONAL REPORTING SERVICES, INC
`
`
`

`

`
`
`plan?
`
`6
`
`MR. BELUSKO: Your Honor, for the Defendant groups,
`we’re going to have Mr. Fehrman begin and cover a lot of the
`common patents, and then Sonos’s counsel has their own portion
`to do because they have five patents that are not common.
`THE COURT: Yes. And with Plaintiff?
`MR. GILMAN: Good morning, your Honor. Mr. Deblois
`is going to present for the Plaintiff. We have a presentation
`to address all patents at once, and I do have a handout. If
`it’s okay with your Honor, I’ll -- let me give it to you --
`THE COURT: Okay.
`MR. GILMAN: -- and to the clerks and opposing
`
`counsel.
`
`THE COURT: Let’s start with -- why don’t you
`distribute the handouts. Are there any other handouts that the
`Defendants have? Why don’t we exchange them? Okay. I have
`two handouts. The first is a handout by the Plaintiff; is that
`correct? Which one is the Plaintiff’s?
`MR. GILMAN: This one’s the Plaintiff’s.
`THE COURT: The smaller one. Okay. And we have to
`move rather quickly today. I think I’ve allocated an hour and
`a half to cover all of the issues. I have certain issues and
`certain questions regarding case management that we’ll discuss
`at the conclusion, but let’s start with the Plaintiff’s
`presentation. And how long will it take for you to present?
`EXCEPTIONAL REPORTING SERVICES, INC
`
`
`1
`2
`3
`4
`5
`6
`7
`8
`9
`10
`11
`12
`13
`14
`15
`16
`17
`18
`19
`20
`21
`22
`23
`24
`25
`
`

`

`MR. DEBLOIS: Approximately 15 minutes.
`THE COURT: Okay. I’ll follow along with the
`
`7
`
`
`
`handout.
`
`MR. DEBLOIS: Okay. That will be great. Okay. Your
`Honor, once again, Jonathan Deblois for Black Hills here to do
`the technology tutorial and brief case overview. Just wanted
`to start off with a little bit of introduction to Black Hills
`Media. Black Hills is a subsidiary of Concert Technology.
`Concert Technology was started in 2006 by Hugh Svendsen and
`Gene Farrelly. The goal of Black Hills is to focus on
`intellectual property directed at networked media devices. We
`currently have some cases involving the patents-in-suit pending
`in ITC, as well as other district courts. And Black Hills has
`licensed patents to four large consumer electronics companies.
`THE COURT: Okay. The other district courts are --
`we have Delaware and we have the Eastern District of Texas.
`MR. DEBLOIS: I believe that’s correct, your Honor.
`THE COURT: Any other districts?
`MR. DEBLOIS: Other than the ITC, not that I’m aware
`
`of.
`
`THE COURT: And then in terms of how you acquired the
`rights to the patent, is that going to be -- is that additional
`information -- how Black Hills acquired the rights to the
`patents at issue, is that going to be detailed in a pleading to
`follow?
`
`
`EXCEPTIONAL REPORTING SERVICES, INC
`
`1
`2
`3
`4
`5
`6
`7
`8
`9
`10
`11
`12
`13
`14
`15
`16
`17
`18
`19
`20
`21
`22
`23
`24
`25
`
`

`

`
`
`8
`
`MR. DEBLOIS: If that’s what your Honor wishes, we
`can certainly do that. We have, at the end of this
`presentation, a brief bio for many of the inventors, listing
`some of their accomplishments and what patents they’re
`associated with. But if you’d like some further information on
`that, we can absolutely get that to you.
`THE COURT: I’d like the detailing on the chain of
`
`title.
`
`MR. DEBLOIS: Okay.
`THE COURT: Thank you.
`MR. DEBLOIS: So, as you know, there’s 12 patents-in-
`suit at issue here. And if you look in the bottom left-hand
`corner of the first slide -- I find it’s easiest to break the
`12 patents into three groups for explanation, and there’s four
`-- obviously four patents in each group. All of the patents
`relate to networked home audio, and also covers other media
`items, not just audio. But for the purpose of this tutorial,
`we’ve limited it to audio. I’ll go through these groups in
`more detail, but I just wanted to give you a brief sentence --
`description about what each does so it’s a little bit easier to
`move forward.
`The network remotes group involves technology that
`allows you to control a media device from your smartphone. As
`you might imagine, the content category describes technology
`that allows you -- or describes how you get the content, where
`EXCEPTIONAL REPORTING SERVICES, INC
`
`
`1
`2
`3
`4
`5
`6
`7
`8
`9
`10
`11
`12
`13
`14
`15
`16
`17
`18
`19
`20
`21
`22
`23
`24
`25
`
`

`

`
`
`9
`
`1
`2
`3
`4
`5
`6
`7
`8
`9
`10
`11
`12
`13
`14
`15
`16
`17
`18
`19
`20
`21
`22
`23
`24
`25
`
`you get it from, and what type of content you’re getting.
`THE COURT: And that group was identified as the
`smart content group in the 26(f) report?
`MR. DEBLOIS: It was, yes, your Honor. And then the
`third category is the multi-zone audio, which allows you to
`play that content on multiple devices at the same time.
`This next slide, your Honor, is -- gives a little
`more context to how these three groups work together to form
`one system. So as you can see in the left-hand side, the
`smartphone can control the media player. You’re pulling
`content from a plurality of sources here, numerous different
`sources, and then that audio is being played on multiple
`devices throughout your home.
`This is a breakdown of which patents are in which
`groups. So for the network remotes group, that contains the
`Weel patents, which are the 099 patent, the 323 patent, the 873
`patent, and the 356 patent.
`The content group contains the Williams, De Bonet,
`and Qureshey patents, and those are the 686, the 694, the 952,
`and the 652 patents.
`And, finally, the multi-zone audio group contains the
`Chang patents, the Wheeler patents, and the Goldberg patents,
`which are the 739, the 517, the 283, and the 740 patent.
`This next slide, your Honor, is for your reference.
`I won’t go through the entire thing, but what it does is
`EXCEPTIONAL REPORTING SERVICES, INC
`
`
`

`

`
`
`10
`
`1
`2
`3
`4
`5
`6
`7
`8
`9
`10
`11
`12
`13
`14
`15
`16
`17
`18
`19
`20
`21
`22
`23
`24
`25
`
`provides the asserted claims and the asserted patents against
`each Defendant to just give you a little bit of a breakdown of
`what we have so far.
`And here, your Honor, I just wanted to give you a
`brief case overview involving, you know, who the Defendants are
`and what the accused type of products are. For Yamaha, the
`accused type of products are AV receivers, networked Blu-ray
`players and other networked home theater systems.
`For Pioneer, the accused product types are the same,
`generally networked home stereo components.
`And then for Sonos, other networked audio devices,
`such as the networked speakers you see in the bottom right-hand
`corner of the screen.
`And here, this is a blank slide. It’s blank because
`I find it’s easiest to understand and to teach the technology
`here by keeping a hypothetical story in mind. So I’d like you
`to picture a man coming home from work or coming home from
`being out with his wife -- we can call him Jim. Jim comes
`home, he walks into his living room, and he wants to play a
`little music and he wants to read the paper in the living room.
`His wife thinks that’s a great idea, but she wants to go in the
`dining room and play around with her tablet. So Jim takes out
`his smartphone, a few swipes and clicks and he’s got his
`selection of songs playing in the living room and playing in
`the dining room at the same time.
`EXCEPTIONAL REPORTING SERVICES, INC
`
`
`

`

`
`
`11
`
`1
`2
`3
`4
`5
`6
`7
`8
`9
`10
`11
`12
`13
`14
`15
`16
`17
`18
`19
`20
`21
`22
`23
`24
`25
`
`So with that, your Honor, I think we can move into a
`little bit more detailed description of each one of these
`groups.
`
`The network remotes group, as I just mentioned, deals
`with controlling your media player from your smartphone. And
`here we have a more detailed description of exactly how this
`works. So Jim, sitting in his living room, and he pulls out
`his smartphone, and he’s presented with a list of his media
`players, whether it’s, you know, receiver, the Sonos speaker
`system, and he chooses which device he wants his content to
`play on, he wants to hear the songs from. So he’s in the
`living room, he clicks on the living room device. He then
`needs to choose his content. So in this case, we have a remote
`content source, which is Pandora Internet Radio. If you’re not
`familiar with what Pandora Internet Radio is, it’s just a --
`THE COURT: I’m familiar.
`MR. DEBLOIS: Okay. So Jim clicks on a playlist.
`The playlist, sent from the remote source, it’s displayed to
`Jim. And what the playlist is, is it’s an identifier of other
`songs in that -- either that genre or by that artist. Jim
`decides what songs he wants to play and that media is sent
`directly to the media player in his living room and begins
`playing. So that is how Jim is able to sit on his couch and
`without getting up and fussing with his audio system, he can
`play his selected songs from the smartphone.
`EXCEPTIONAL REPORTING SERVICES, INC
`
`
`

`

`
`
`12
`
`1
`2
`3
`4
`5
`6
`7
`8
`9
`10
`11
`12
`13
`14
`15
`16
`17
`18
`19
`20
`21
`22
`23
`24
`25
`
`So now that we know how we can control the media
`player from his smartphone, we need to get into what type of
`content, and where the content is coming from, and how he’s
`actually getting that content. And that’s obviously the
`content group. And while we use Pandora here as an example,
`there’s a plurality of sources that the content can come from,
`so it’s not limited to Pandora. However, it is easier to
`understand with just sticking with that example. Often, your
`Honor, in the field, this -- the content group would be
`referred to as personalized content, or customized content,
`because in many cases, the songs that are being served to the
`user or -- are personalized to their listening habits through
`data or user interaction.
`So this is a detailed representation of the content
`group. So we have the same smartphone, and on it were
`displayed a number of sources that this content can from,
`anything from CD, from a tuner, a traditional radio input, or
`an iPod. Also, we are presented with a traditional internet
`radio source, which would be very similar to listening to your
`favorite station in your car. The same broadcast is going to
`be listened to by every user that’s listening to it. And a
`Pandora-style playlist radio station where you’re served with a
`playlist that contains various songs. So Jim decides that he
`wants to listen to the playlist, now he wants to listen to
`Pandora’s content. He chooses Pandora and, just like before,
`EXCEPTIONAL REPORTING SERVICES, INC
`
`
`

`

`
`
`13
`
`1
`2
`3
`4
`5
`6
`7
`8
`9
`10
`11
`12
`13
`14
`15
`16
`17
`18
`19
`20
`21
`22
`23
`24
`25
`
`he’s displayed a list of playlists. He chooses his playlist
`and the Pandora system, which also here labeled the central
`system, is searched based upon that criteria, and media net
`criteria -- the song’s media net criteria are served to Jim.
`Jim chooses the songs and they’re sent to the media player to
`be played. As I said, this is not limited to Pandora, so he
`could have chosen a CD, and the process is generally the same.
`So now we have the ability to control the media
`player from your smartphone, you have the ability to choose
`customized content from numerous places on the smartphone. So
`now we need to understand how it’s played on numerous devices
`throughout the home. And that, your Honor, is the multi-zone
`audio group. So here we see how this actually works. You
`notice the small square that has been featured in the bottom
`right-hand corner of many of these slides is now the entire
`system. So before we’re dealing with parts, and now we’re
`dealing with it integrated into an entire system. So we have
`the smartphones still. We’re displayed the devices -- the
`choices, any one of the devices in the home. In this case, Jim
`wants the living room and Jim wants the dining room. Jim
`chooses both of those devices, and as soon as he does that, the
`devices are talking to each other. They talk to each other,
`they talk to the smartphone; and through the internet they have
`access to the remote content. As soon as they’re talking to
`each other, they set up a wireless network, their own wireless
`EXCEPTIONAL REPORTING SERVICES, INC
`
`
`

`

`
`
`14
`
`network, and that’s how the songs are transmitted and how
`they’re able to play on the dining room player, as well as the
`living room player simultaneously. So now that the devices are
`linked and the wireless network has been established, the
`process is the same regarding obtaining content. Jim chooses
`the playlist, Jim chooses the songs, they’re sent to the media
`player, the media players broadcast to each other, and at the
`same time you’re hearing the same audio in the dining room and
`the living room. And it’s not just limited to the same song
`either, your Honor. Say Jim’s wife in the dining room decides
`she doesn’t want to listen to the same music anymore. She can
`pull out her smartphone, choose the kitchen device, the same
`process; and all the while Jim is continuously listening to the
`music in the living room, his wife’s now listening to different
`content in the dining room.
`The remainder of the slides, your Honor, as I had
`mentioned earlier are the inventors and some bios on a number
`of the inventors. I won’t go through that now but they’re for
`your reference at a later time. And that concludes the -- this
`presentation. I’d be happy to answer any questions you may
`have.
`
`THE COURT: Thank you. Defense?
`MR. FEHRMAN: Good morning, your Honor.
`THE COURT: Good morning.
`MR. FEHRMAN: I’m David Fehrman for Yamaha
`EXCEPTIONAL REPORTING SERVICES, INC
`
`
`
`1
`2
`3
`4
`5
`6
`7
`8
`9
`10
`11
`12
`13
`14
`15
`16
`17
`18
`19
`20
`21
`22
`23
`24
`25
`
`

`

`
`
`15
`
`1
`2
`3
`4
`5
`6
`7
`8
`9
`10
`11
`12
`13
`14
`15
`16
`17
`18
`19
`20
`21
`22
`23
`24
`25
`
`Corporation of America, and I’ll be addressing the patents that
`are commonly asserted against all of the Defendants, and
`Mr. Lee will address the patents asserted only against Sonos.
`THE COURT: Thank you.
`MR. FEHRMAN: So we’re trying to -- we’re breaking
`this down a little bit differently – but we have a total of 12
`patents that have been asserted, six common patents asserted
`against all Defendants, four family groups, five additional
`patents asserted against Sonos, three family groups, and one
`additional patent asserted against all of the Defendants except
`Sonos. And we’ve tried to break this down into some groups
`just to get some organization to it, seven total families, the
`commonly asserted patents include four families, and then we
`have four more asserted only against Sonos. We have Logitech
`in here because that was prepared earlier, and they settled
`recently.
`
`So we want to give a couple of background concepts
`that we think are important here just in terms of technology,
`and it’s basically listening to songs. And we start going way
`back, listening to an album which is a fixed group of songs.
`And we go -- as it moves on, you can see this record has a
`number of songs, you play them from beginning to end. It’s a
`fixed album. Same thing with a cassette player, generally you
`play from beginning to end. CDs came around, and they again
`were generally a fixed album, but you could have an additional
`EXCEPTIONAL REPORTING SERVICES, INC
`
`
`

`

`
`
`16
`
`1
`2
`3
`4
`5
`6
`7
`8
`9
`10
`11
`12
`13
`14
`15
`16
`17
`18
`19
`20
`21
`22
`23
`24
`25
`
`feature of some random access capability. Now something that’s
`quite relevant here but goes back a long time is a jukebox.
`And a jukebox is something that actually the playing is set up
`kind of on the fly, so the unit has a record player. But at --
`say if you’re at a restaurant, at the table you often have a
`selector, and you can select songs in order. And as you select
`those, a playlist is built up, and that would then play the
`songs in that order.
`And interestingly then, in the 1990s, when computer
`music came about, they started kind of moving this jukebox
`concept over to computer music, where you would store music in
`your computer on your hard drive. And we have examples of two
`software products that were jukeboxes for computers, and
`they’re both actually referred to as “jukeboxes,” the Music
`Match Jukebox Deluxe (phonetic) and The Real Jukebox
`(phonetic). And those were enabling users to store their songs
`and create playlists, so create a selective ordering of songs.
`And this is just a screenshot from the real jukebox, and it has
`a section here for playlists and creating new playlists. And
`then interestingly it moved over from just your desktop
`computer to portable devices. We have an example here, which
`is right around 1999, 2000, of a creative music player, and we
`have the little pull-outs. It was actually referred to as a
`jukebox again, and it has playlists and artists and styles for
`selecting the music that you want to listen to. This music
`EXCEPTIONAL REPORTING SERVICES, INC
`
`
`

`

`
`
`17
`
`1
`2
`3
`4
`5
`6
`7
`8
`9
`10
`11
`12
`13
`14
`15
`16
`17
`18
`19
`20
`21
`22
`23
`24
`25
`
`would have been downloaded from the computer -- or uploaded --
`transferred from the computer where the music was stored
`initially and obtained generally from the internet, and then
`stored on this product for portable listening.
`So in terms of playlists, which is very fundamental
`to what we’re dealing with many of the patents, it’s a list of
`songs for selective playback, and it’s created by organizing
`and storing the list of songs. And that playlist can be re-
`accessed and distributed at a later point in time, and we just
`have an example of a playlist down there in the bottom. One
`thing is quite different is this is different from a radio
`playlist where you can just like see in the newspaper or get
`online and see what a radio is broadcasting. That’s still a
`fixed list. So there are kind of two different kinds of
`playlists. In the context of these patents, playlists is this
`organizable and selectable list. It’s not a fixed list.
`Another very important concept that we think applies
`to many of the patents is the issue of downloading versus
`streaming media. And downloading is where a song is actually
`copied from a remote source and it’s stored in your device, in
`your main memory of your hard drive, for example, of your
`computer, and then the song is accessed by playing it from that
`memory. You don’t need to get the song again if you want to
`listen to it again. It’s there for you to instantly access it.
`And basically that downloading function is the same as
`EXCEPTIONAL REPORTING SERVICES, INC
`
`
`

`

`
`
`18
`
`1
`2
`3
`4
`5
`6
`7
`8
`9
`10
`11
`12
`13
`14
`15
`16
`17
`18
`19
`20
`21
`22
`23
`24
`25
`
`traditional file transfer for computers of other types of
`files; it’s not restricted to songs.
`In contrast, streaming is kind of a different
`operation. Streaming is very popular now. Both downloading
`and streaming are popular, but kind of different operations.
`In streaming, the song is not stored on the device. Instead,
`the device accesses a song that’s stored at a remote source and
`plays it in real time. It’s streaming through. That’s why
`it’s referred to as streaming. Each time the song is played,
`you have to access it again from that source. It’s not -- a
`permanent copy is not stored on your device. And many of these
`asserted functionalities relate to streaming as opposed to
`downloading.
`So we move quickly to the Qureshey patents, that’s
`the first group that we have, the 952 and 652. We’ve just set
`forth the coversheets of these patents for reference. And
`they’re very similar. Their titles are similar, they both
`relate to playlists, so then they both have claims that all
`include limitations regarding playlists. And the patents --
`these two patents have the same specification.
`So for a general operational view, Figure 15 is
`really the best because it’s illustrating the transfer of songs
`and the assigning of a playlist from one device to another. So
`a person may have what they call a personal network with a
`number of devices throughout the home, or even east coast and
`EXCEPTIONAL REPORTING SERVICES, INC
`
`
`

`

`
`
`19
`
`1
`2
`3
`4
`5
`6
`7
`8
`9
`10
`11
`12
`13
`14
`15
`16
`17
`18
`19
`20
`21
`22
`23
`24
`25
`
`west coast, and they want to -- they have songs and playlists
`on one device they want to move it over and transfer it to
`another so that they can then listen to songs on another
`device. And we’ve copied just an intro statement of what
`Figure 15 is about, and it’s the configuration for assigning
`playlists on audio sources from -- to a device, such as 1510 on
`the left, or a PC in the middle, from another device, 1520, and
`they’re all connected to the same network. And the assigning
`of the playlist is an important feature here, and that’s
`discussed in detail with respect to Figure 19. And we’ve
`highlighted kind of the keys in terms of the assigning
`operation. So step 1906 here, you actually assign a device and
`you choose the target device you want to transfer a playlist
`to. So you assign that playlist.
`You then check that device. It may already have a
`number of the songs that are on the playlist. And it checks to
`see what’s on that hard drive, what’s missing. And after it
`determines what’s missing, ultimately that device is going to
`download the missing songs by reference to URLs, information
`that kind of identify the location of those songs, it will
`download so it will then store all of the songs corresponding
`to the playlist on its hard drive so that the user can then
`access the songs immediately at that device.
`We have a very brief animation here to show this
`operation. So the network here has a personal server, which is
`EXCEPTIONAL REPORTING SERVICES, INC
`
`
`

`

`
`
`20
`
`1
`2
`3
`4
`5
`6
`7
`8
`9
`10
`11
`12
`13
`14
`15
`16
`17
`18
`19
`20
`21
`22
`23
`24
`25
`
`the server site at the top, and everything is channeled through
`that server. So the first thing that happens is a playlist is
`assigned from one device to another. So this is the list.
`This is just the song list, not the songs themselves. Once
`it’s been assigned, then it’s checking to see what’s missing.
`And if songs are missing then, it needs to download those songs
`from either URLs or the various other devices on the network so
`that ultimately all of the songs that were missing from that
`assigned playlist will be stored on the target device and they
`are there and able to be listened to. So that relates to
`transferring a playlist and then downloading the songs.
`I’ve put the claims here. I don’t intend to go into
`any claims, but if you have any questions, I’m happy to discuss
`specifics of any of the claims. But we believe that these
`claims are related to assigning and downloading.
`The 652 patent adds features on internet radio, but
`the claims also include the assigning and downloading
`recitations.
`Some of the issues that we’ve identified just as a,
`you know, very high level outline, we believe that the claims
`are all invalid. I believe you’re aware we’ve filed petitions
`for inter partes review on this patent. That was filed on
`September 18th. The 952 was challenged on 11 grounds based
`upon five references; the 652, seven grounds on five
`references.
`
`
`EXCEPTIONAL REPORTING SERVICES, INC
`
`

`

`
`
`21
`
`1
`2
`3
`4
`5
`6
`7
`8
`9
`10
`11
`12
`13
`14
`15
`16
`17
`18
`19
`20
`21
`22
`23
`24
`25
`
`And just in terms of timing, these inter partes
`review are much faster than previous re-examinations. It’s
`basically an 18-month pendency from the initial filing. The
`latest date here, assuming that the petitions are granted,
`which is a six-month period basically for that decision, so
`then one year after that the reviews would be completed, at the
`latest by March 26, 2015. And the parties are proposing a
`trial date here after that date. Now, assuming again that
`these petitions are granted, the Defendants do plan to move for
`a stay of the proceedings.
`Some issues -- again, from a high level of -- with
`respect to non-infringement, many of these asserted claims and
`these patents and others are method claims. There’s no
`possibility of direct infringement. They’re directed to use of
`the product by the end user, so there’s only a potential issue
`of inducement with respect to these claims.
`In terms of the substantive requirements of the
`claims, there’s no assignment of playlists in any of the
`Defendants’ accused devices. They don’t have playlists
`assigned to them.
`And, again, another fundamental thing, there’s no
`downloading here. These are all streaming-type devices, and
`all of the products and services that the Plaintiff mentioned
`in their opening are all streaming services, not downloading.
`And these devices that are accused don’t have memory for
`EXCEPTIONAL REPORTING SERVICES, INC
`
`
`

`

`
`
`22
`
`1
`2
`3
`4
`5
`6
`7
`8
`9
`10
`11
`12
`13
`14
`15
`16
`17
`18
`19
`20
`21
`22
`23
`24
`25
`
`storing and downloading songs. And there’s no distribution of
`playlists. Again, it’s related to streaming services, such as
`Pandora Internet Radio. And that’s a -- you select the type of
`radio, but it still just stream songs just like a radio
`station. It’s -- the name of it is Pandora Internet Radio.
`Now I move to the second group, which is the Weel
`family. Again, just the coversheets of the patents and the
`titles and -- basically these are talking about sharing
`playlists and controlling playlists. As a general summary,
`they’re related to playing content on one device by selecting a
`song from a playlist displayed on a second device. Such as a
`remote control plays -- displays a playlist, you can use that
`to select songs. The drawings here are very basic, but just as
`an example, they have Figure 2, the remote control at the
`bottom, and a dedicated media player that’s used to play the
`songs. Just in terms of background, here’s just one example of
`a patent that has a remote control, the remote device, 22, up
`in the corner, and a PC in the middle for playing songs. The
`remote shown in Figure 2 off to the right -- and just one
`sentence -- or one excerpt from the specification, it says,
`“The playlist is transferred to the remote. The user selects
`and plays a clip using the remote, and then the remote sends
`these commands to the PC software which plays the clip.” So
`it’s a pretty -- in just a very short and simple thing, it
`shows the concept of playing songs by reference to a playlist
`EXCEPTIONAL REPORTING SERVICES, INC
`
`
`

`

`
`
`23
`
`1
`2
`3
`4
`5
`6
`7
`8
`9
`10
`11
`12
`13
`14
`15
`16
`17
`18
`19
`20
`21
`22
`23
`24
`25
`
`from a remote is quite an old concept. Again, just listing a
`patent claim, an exemplary claim, this is a method.
`So that was one example of a prior art. There are
`many others, and our IPRs are based upon that prior art th

This document is available on Docket Alarm but you must sign up to view it.


Or .

Accessing this document will incur an additional charge of $.

After purchase, you can access this document again without charge.

Accept $ Charge
throbber

Still Working On It

This document is taking longer than usual to download. This can happen if we need to contact the court directly to obtain the document and their servers are running slowly.

Give it another minute or two to complete, and then try the refresh button.

throbber

A few More Minutes ... Still Working

It can take up to 5 minutes for us to download a document if the court servers are running slowly.

Thank you for your continued patience.

This document could not be displayed.

We could not find this document within its docket. Please go back to the docket page and check the link. If that does not work, go back to the docket and refresh it to pull the newest information.

Your account does not support viewing this document.

You need a Paid Account to view this document. Click here to change your account type.

Your account does not support viewing this document.

Set your membership status to view this document.

With a Docket Alarm membership, you'll get a whole lot more, including:

  • Up-to-date information for this case.
  • Email alerts whenever there is an update.
  • Full text search for other cases.
  • Get email alerts whenever a new case matches your search.

Become a Member

One Moment Please

The filing “” is large (MB) and is being downloaded.

Please refresh this page in a few minutes to see if the filing has been downloaded. The filing will also be emailed to you when the download completes.

Your document is on its way!

If you do not receive the document in five minutes, contact support at support@docketalarm.com.

Sealed Document

We are unable to display this document, it may be under a court ordered seal.

If you have proper credentials to access the file, you may proceed directly to the court's system using your government issued username and password.


Access Government Site

We are redirecting you
to a mobile optimized page.





Document Unreadable or Corrupt

Refresh this Document
Go to the Docket

We are unable to display this document.

Refresh this Document
Go to the Docket