UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
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`_________________
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`BEFORE THE PATENT TRIAL AND APPEAL BOARD
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`UNIFIED PATENTS INC.
`Petitioner
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`v.
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`DRAGON INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY, LLC.
`Patent Owner
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`_________________
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`Case IPR2014-01252
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`Patent No. 5,930,444
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`_________________
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`PETITIONER’S MOTION TO EXPUNGE
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`_________________
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`BEFORE THE PATENT TRIAL AND APPEAL BOARD
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`________________
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`UNIFIED PATENTS INC.
`Petitioner
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`v.
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`DRAGON INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY, LLC.
`Patent Owner
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`_________________
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`Case IPR2014-01252
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`Patent No. 5,930,444
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`_________________
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`PETITIONER’S MOTION TO EXPUNGE
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`I.
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`INTRODUCTION
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`Pursuant 37 C.F.R. § 42.56, Petitioner, Unified Patents Inc. (“Unified” or
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`“Petitioner”), hereby requests that certain confidential information in the record be
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`expunged. Specifically, Petitioner respectfully submits that (i) Paper 10, Patent
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`Owner’s Preliminary Response to Petition; (ii) Paper 18, Petitioner’s Reply Brief
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`on Real Party in Interest; (iii) Paper 21, Dragon Intellectual Property, LLC’s
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`Opposition to Petitioner’s Motion to Seal; (iv) Paper 24, Dragon Intellectual
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`Property, LLC’s Motion for Additional Discovery; (v) Paper 28, Petitioner’s
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`Motion to Seal; (vi) Paper 31, Petitioner’s Motion to Seal; and (vii) Exhibits 1015,
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`1017, 2001, 2003-2005, 2007-2009, 2011-2013, and 2015-2016 (collectively, the
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`“Confidential Documents”) should be expunged from the record as these pleadings
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`and exhibits contain Petitioner’s highly confidential business information.
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`The deadline for filing a motion to expunge in this case is 45 days from the
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`Final Written Decision. See Office Patent Trial Practice Guide (“OPTP Guide”),
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`77 Fed. Reg. 48756, 48761 (Aug. 14, 2012). While generally the Confidential
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`Documents would become publicly available at this time, the Board made clear in
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`its Final Written Decision that “[t]he record will be maintained undisturbed
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`pending the outcome of any appeal taken from [the] Decision.” Paper 64 at 22.
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`Accordingly, Petitioner requests that the Confidential Documents be expunged
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`2
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`after the conclusion of any appeal proceeding or, if neither party appeals the Final
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`Written Decision, after the expiration of the time period for appealing.
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`II.
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`STATEMENT OF REASONS FOR RELIEF REQUESTED
`A.
`Petitioner filed four motions to seal in this proceeding and requested that the
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`Procedural Background
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`Board maintain the Confidential Documents under seal because they contain three
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`categories of Petitioner’s confidential information: (1) Petitioner’s members’
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`identities; (2) Petitioner’s membership terms and business strategy; and (3)
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`Petitioner’s financial information. See Papers 12, 17, 27, and 30. Patent Owner
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`opposed all four Motions. On February 27, 2015, the Board granted Petitioner’s
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`motions to seal the Confidential Documents. See Paper 40. Specifically, the
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`Board found that (1) Petitioner had “shown good cause to seal the identities of its
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`members;” (2) Petitioner had “shown good cause for maintaining its membership
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`terms and business strategy under seal;” and (3) that “the public’s interest in
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`knowing Petitioner’s financial information is relativity low, such that it is
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`outweighed by Petitioner’s interest in maintaining its financial information
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`confidential.” Id. at 6-7.
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`B. Applicable Legal Standards
`The OPTP Guide provides, in pertinent part, that:
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`There is an expectation that information will be made public where the
`existence of the information is referred to . . . in a final written decision
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`2
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`following a trial. A party seeking to maintain the confidentiality of
`information, however, may file a motion to expunge the information from
`the record prior to the information becoming public.
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`OPTP Guide, 77 Fed. Reg. at 48761. Additionally, 37 C.F.R. § 42.56 provides that
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`“[a]fter a denial of a petition to institute a trial or after final judgment in a trial, a
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`party may file a motion to expunge confidential information in the record.”
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`C. Good Cause Exists for Expunging the Confidential Documents
`from the Record
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`Good cause exists for expunging the Confidential Documents. All of the
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`Confidential Documents contain Petitioner’s highly confidential business
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`information, which Petitioner guards in order to protect its own business as well as
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`its members. Specifically, the Confidential Documents contain information
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`relating to Petitioner’s membership list, its membership terms and business
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`strategy, and Petitioner’s financial information. Additionally, the Board has
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`already agreed that good cause exists to maintain the Confidential Documents
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`under seal. Moreover, the Board did not rely on any of the sealed Confidential
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`Documents in its Final Written Decision (See Paper 64 at 22), so there is no public
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`interest in now making the Confidential Documents publicly available.
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`Accordingly, good cause exists to expunge the Confidential Documents.
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`3
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`III. CONCLUSION
`Because the Board has already found that the Confidential Documents
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`should be maintained under seal, and because the Board did not rely on them in its
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`Final Written Decision, Petitioner respectfully requests that the Board protect
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`Petitioner’s highly confidential business information and expunge the Confidential
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`Documents pursuant to 37 C.F.R. § 42.56.
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`Respectfully Submitted,
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`/Michael L. Kiklis/
`Michael L. Kiklis
`Reg. No. 38,939
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`Dated: March 21, 2016
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`4
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`CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
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`The undersigned certifies that a true copy of the foregoing PETITIONER’S
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`MOTION TO EXPUNGE was served on counsel for the Patent Owner, on this
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`21st day of March, by filing this document through the Patent Review Processing
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`System as well as delivering a copy via electronic mail to:
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`Kai Zhu
`kz@dragonipllc.com
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`Timothy Devlin
`tdevlin@devlinlawfirm.com
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`/Michael L. Kiklis/
`Michael L. Kiklis
`OBLON, MCCLELLAND, MAIER &
`NEUSTADT, L.L.P.
`1940 Duke Street
`Alexandria, Virginia 22314
`703-413-3000
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`Dated: March 21, 2016
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