Case No. IPR2015-00813
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`
`
`Paper No.
`Filed: July 1, 2015
`
`Naveen Modi
`Paul Hastings LLP
`875 15th Street NW
`Washington, DC 20005
`Telephone: (202) 551-1990
`Facsimile: (202) 551-0490
`E-mail: naveenmodi@paulhastings.com
`
`UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
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`BEFORE THE PATENT TRIAL AND APPEAL BOARD
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`APPLE INC.
`Petitioner
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`v.
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`VIRNETX INC.
`Patent Owner
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`
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`Case IPR2015-00813
`Patent 8,850,009
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`
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`Patent Owner’s Preliminary Response
`to Petition for Inter Partes Review
`of U.S. Patent No. 8,850,009
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`
`
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`Filed on behalf of: VirnetX Inc.
`By:
`
`Joseph E. Palys
`Paul Hastings LLP
`875 15th Street NW
`Washington, DC 20005
`Telephone: (202) 551-1996
`Facsimile: (202) 551-0496
`E-mail: josephpalys@paulhastings.com
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`
`
`

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`
`
`I.
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`II.
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`Case No. IPR2015-00813
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`Table of Contents
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`Introduction ...................................................................................................... 1
`
`The Petition Fails to Meet the Requirements for Instituting an
`Inter Partes Review ......................................................................................... 1
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`A.
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`B.
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`C.
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`The Petition Improperly Relies on Material That It Fails to
`Establish Is Statutory Prior Art ............................................................. 2
`
`The Petition’s Obviousness Ground Is Redundant and Should
`Be Denied .............................................................................................. 7
`
`The Petition Fails to Show a Reasonable Likelihood That
`Petitioner Will Prevail With Respect to Any Claim ........................... 11
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`1.
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`2.
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`3.
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`4.
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`5.
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`The Cited Portions of Aventail Do Not Disclose the
`Claimed “Determination” ......................................................... 12
`
`The Cited Portions of Aventail Do Not Disclose
`Receiving “the Requested Network Address of the
`Second Network Device” .......................................................... 19
`
`The Cited Portions of Aventail Do Not Disclose the
`Claimed Features of At Least Claims 13 and 25 ...................... 21
`
`The Petition Does Not Apply the Proposed Claim
`Construction for “Provisioning Information” To Aventail ....... 23
`
`The Petition Fails to Comply with 35 U.S.C. §312(a)(3)
`and 37 C.F.R. § 42.104(b)(4) .................................................... 24
`
`III. The Petition’s Claim Constructions Are Flawed and Should Be
`Rejected ......................................................................................................... 26
`
`A. Overview of the ’009 Patent ................................................................ 27
`
`B.
`
`C.
`
`Level of Ordinary Skill in the Art ....................................................... 28
`
`“Domain Name Service (DNS) Request” (Claims 1, 12-14, 24
`and 25) ................................................................................................. 30
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`D.
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`“Interception of the DNS Request” (Claims 1 and 14) ....................... 30
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`i
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`Case No. IPR2015-00813
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`E.
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`F.
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`G.
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`H.
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`I.
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`“Encrypted Communication Link” Phrases (Claims 1, 2, 8, 11,
`14, 15, and 23) ..................................................................................... 34
`
`“Provisioning Information” (Claims 1 and 14) ................................... 36
`
`“Secure Communications Service” (Claims 1-3, 10, 12, 14-16,
`22, and 24) ........................................................................................... 39
`
`“Indication” (Claims 1, 10, 14, and 22) .............................................. 40
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`“Virtual Private Network Communication Link” (Claim 8) ............... 41
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`1.
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`2.
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`3.
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`4.
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`5.
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`A “VPN Communication Link” Does Not Exist Outside
`of a Virtual Private Network ..................................................... 42
`
`“Authentication” and “Address Hopping” Alone Do Not
`Result in a “Virtual Private Network Communication
`Link” ......................................................................................... 44
`
`A “Virtual Private Network Communication Link” Must
`Be Direct ................................................................................... 46
`
`A “Virtual Private Network Communication Link”
`Requires a Network ................................................................... 48
`
`A “Virtual Private Network Communication Link”
`Requires Encryption .................................................................. 50
`
`J.
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`K.
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`“Domain Name” (Claims 7 and 20) .................................................... 51
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`“Modulation” (Claims 4, 5, 17, and 18) .............................................. 52
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`IV. Conclusion ..................................................................................................... 53
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`Case No. IPR2015-00813
`
`TABLE OF AUTHORITIES
`
` Page(s)
`
`Cases
`A.R.M., Inc. v. Cottingham Agencies Ltd.,
`IPR2014-00671, Paper No. 10 (Oct. 3, 2014) ...................................................... 3
`
`Actavis, Inc. v. Research Corp. Techs., Inc.,
`IPR2014-01126, Paper No. 22 (Jan. 9, 2015) ....................................................... 3
`
`Apple Inc. v. Evolutionary Intelligence, LLC,
`IPR2014-00079, Paper No. 8 (Apr. 25, 2014) .................................................... 11
`
`Apple Inc. v. VirnetX Inc.,
`IPR2014-00237, Paper No. 15 (May 14, 2014) .................................................. 30
`
`Apple Inc. v. VirnetX, Inc.,
`IPR2014-00481, Paper No. 1 (Mar. 7, 2014) ............................................... 43, 51
`
`Apple Inc. v. VirnetX Inc.,
`IPR2014-00483, Paper No. 11 (Sept. 15, 2014) ................................................... 9
`
`Apple Inc. v. VirnetX Inc.,
`IPR2014-00811, Paper No. 1 (March 2, 2015) ................................................... 17
`
`Elec. Frontier Found. v. Pers. Audio, LLC,
`IPR2014-00070, Paper No. 21 (Apr. 18, 2014) .................................................... 6
`
`EMC Corp. v. Personal Web Techs., LLC,
`IPR2013-00087, Paper No. 25 (June 5, 2013) ................................................ 8, 10
`
`Eon–Net LP v. Flagstar Bancorp.,
`653 F.3d 1314 (Fed. Cir. 2011) .......................................................................... 50
`
`Garmin Int’l, Inc. v. Cuozzo Speed Techs. LLC,
`IPR2012-00001, Paper No. 15 (Jan. 9, 2013) ............................................... 26, 47
`
`Google Inc. et al. v. EveryMD.com LLC,
`IPR2014-00347, Paper No. 9 (May 22, 2014) .................................................... 11
`
`
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`iii
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`

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`
`Idle Free Sys., Inc. v. Bergstrom, Inc.,
`IPR2012-00027, Paper No. 26 (June 11, 2013) .................................................... 2
`
`Case No. IPR2015-00813
`
`In re Klopfenstein,
`380 F.3d 1345 (Fed. Cir. 2004) ............................................................................ 3
`
`L-3 Comm. Holdings, Inc. v. Power Survey, LLC,
`IPR2014-00832, Paper No. 9 (Nov. 14, 2014) ..................................................... 3
`
`Liberty Mut. Ins. Co. v. Progressive Cas. Ins. Co.,
`CBM2012-00003, Paper No. 7 (Oct. 25, 2012) ............................................ 7, 8, 9
`
`Microsoft Corp. v. Proxyconn, Inc.,
`No. 2014-1542, slip op. (Fed. Cir. Jun. 16, 2015) ........................................ 20, 26
`
`Motorola Solutions, Inc. v. Mobile Scanning Techs., LLC,
`IPR2013-00093, Paper No. 28 (Apr. 29, 2013) ............................................ 27, 47
`
`Phillips v. AWH Corp.,
`415 F.3d 1303 (Fed. Cir. 2005) (en banc) .................................................... 26, 39
`
`Rambus Inc. v. Rea,
`527 Fed. Appx. 902 (Fed. Cir. 2013) .................................................................. 25
`
`Samsung Elecs. Co. v. Rembrandt Wireless Techs., LP,
`IPR2014-00514, Paper No. 18 (Sep. 9, 2014) .................................................. 5, 6
`
`ScentAir Techs., Inc. v. Prolitic, Inc.,
`IPR2013-00180, Paper No. 18 (Aug. 26, 2013) ............................................... 2, 8
`
`Tempur Sealy Int’l, Inc. v. Select Comfort Corp.,
`IPR2014-01419, Paper No. 9 (Mar. 27, 2015) ................................................... 11
`
`Toyota Motor Corp. v. Am. Vehicular Sciences LLC,
`IPR2013-00421, Paper No. 15 (Jan. 13, 2014) ..................................................... 8
`
`VirnetX Inc. v. Cisco Systems, Inc.,
`767 F.3d 1308 (Fed. Cir. 2014) .................................................................... 36, 48
`
`Xilinx, Inc. v. Intellectual Ventures I LLC,
`IPR2013-00112, Paper No. 14 (June 27, 2013) .................................................. 48
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`iv
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`
`In re Zletz,
`893 F.2d 319 (Fed. Cir. 1989) ............................................................................ 26
`
`Case No. IPR2015-00813
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`ZTE Corp. & ZTE (USA) Inc. v. ContentGuard Holdings Inc.,
`IPR2013-00134, Paper No. 12 (June 19, 2013) .................................................. 48
`
`Federal Statutes
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`35 U.S.C. § 102 .......................................................................................................... 1
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`35 U.S.C. § 102(b) ..................................................................................................... 3
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`35 U.S.C. § 103 .......................................................................................................... 1
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`35 U.S.C. § 311(b) ......................................................................................... 1, 2, 4, 5
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`35 U.S.C. § 312(a)(3) ................................................................................. 1, 2, 24, 25
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`35 U.S.C. § 313 .......................................................................................................... 1
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`35 U.S.C. § 314(a) ............................................................................................passim
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`Federal Rules
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`37 C.F.R. § 42.1(b) .................................................................................................... 8
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`37 C.F.R. § 42.100(b) .............................................................................................. 26
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`37 C.F.R. § 42.104(b) ................................................................................................ 1
`
`37 C.F.R. § 42.104(b)(4) ........................................................................ 11, 12, 24, 25
`
`37 C.F.R. § 42.107 ..................................................................................................... 1
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`v
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`
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`I.
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`Introduction
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`Case No. IPR2015-00813
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`Patent Owner VirnetX Inc. respectfully submits this Preliminary Response
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`in accordance with 35 U.S.C. § 313 and 37 C.F.R. § 42.107, responding to the
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`Petition for Inter Partes Review (the “Petition”) filed by Apple Inc. against Patent
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`Owner’s U.S. Patent No. 8,850,009 (“the ’009 patent”). Patent Owner requests
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`that the Board not institute inter partes review for several reasons.
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`First, Petitioner relies on material that it has not shown is a “patent[] or
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`printed publication[]” under 35 U.S.C. § 311(b). Second, Petitioner proposes
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`redundant grounds without identifying how any one ground improves on any other,
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`contravening Board precedent requiring petitioners to identify differences in
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`proposed rejections. Next, Petitioner has not met its burden of demonstrating a
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`reasonable likelihood of prevailing in proving unpatentability of any challenged
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`’009 patent claim. The Petition also fails to identify where and what in the prior
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`art discloses each claimed feature, violating the particularity requirements of 35
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`U.S.C. § 312(a)(3) and 37 C.F.R. § 42.104(b). And finally, Petitioner proposes a
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`number of incorrect claim constructions upon which it bases its unpatentability
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`grounds. Each of these reasons requires denial of institution.
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`II. The Petition Fails to Meet the Requirements for Instituting an
`Inter Partes Review
`The grounds that may be raised in a petition for inter partes review (IPR) are
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`limited to those “that could be raised under section 102 or 103 and only on the
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`basis of prior art consisting of patents or printed publications.” 35 U.S.C. § 311(b).
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`Case No. IPR2015-00813
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`In addition, the Board will not consider redundant grounds and to the extent they
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`are proposed, Petitioner carries the burden of “articulat[ing] a meaningful
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`distinction in terms of relative strengths and weaknesses with respect to application
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`of the prior art disclosures to one or more claim limitations.” ScentAir Techs., Inc.
`
`v. Prolitic, Inc., IPR2013-00180, Paper No. 18 at 3 (Aug. 26, 2013); see also Idle
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`Free Sys., Inc. v. Bergstrom, Inc., IPR2012-00027, Paper No. 26 at 3 (June 11,
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`2013) (“[A]t [the] time of institution the Board analyzes the petition on a claim-by-
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`claim, ground-by-ground basis, to eliminate redundant grounds.”) To be instituted,
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`a petition must also “show[] that there is a reasonable likelihood that the petitioner
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`would prevail with respect to at least 1 of the claims challenged in the petition.”
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`35 U.S.C. § 314(a). This showing requires that the petition “identif[y], in writing
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`and with particularity, each claim challenged, the grounds on which the challenge
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`to each claim is based, and the evidence that supports the grounds for the challenge
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`to each claim.” 35 U.S.C. § 312(a)(3). Petitioner fails to meet each of these
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`requirements.
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`A. The Petition Improperly Relies on Material That It Fails to
`Establish Is Statutory Prior Art
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`Prior art relied on in a petition for inter partes review may only consist of
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`“patents or printed publications.” 35 U.S.C. § 311(b). As such, the burden is on
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`Petitioner to establish that RFC 2401 and RFC 2543, which are not patents and on
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`which Petitioner relies on for its proposed grounds of unpatentability, were
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`Case No. IPR2015-00813
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`“sufficiently accessible to the public interested in the art.” In re Klopfenstein, 380
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`F.3d 1345, 1348 (Fed. Cir. 2004); see also Actavis, Inc. v. Research Corp. Techs.,
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`Inc., IPR2014-01126, Paper No. 22 at 9-13 (Jan. 9, 2015) (finding that “Petitioner
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`has not satisfied its burden to prove that [a] thesis is a printed publication under §
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`102(b)”); L-3 Comm. Holdings, Inc. v. Power Survey, LLC, IPR2014-00832, Paper
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`No. 9 at 12 (Nov. 14, 2014) (“The party seeking to introduce the reference ‘should
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`produce sufficient proof of its dissemination or that it has otherwise been available
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`and accessible to persons concerned with the art to which the document relates and
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`thus most likely to avail themselves of its contents.’”); A.R.M., Inc. v. Cottingham
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`Agencies Ltd., IPR2014-00671, Paper No. 10 at 7 (Oct. 3, 2014).
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`Petitioner merely alleges that “RFC 2401 (Ex. 1008) was published in
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`November 1998.” (Pet. at 28 (citing Ex. 1008 at 1).) Petitioner similarly alleges
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`that RFC 2543 (Ex. 1013) “was published in March 1999.” (Pet. at 30 (citing Ex.
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`1013 at 1).) However, Petitioner does not provide evidence to establish that RFC
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`2401 and RFC 2543 would have been sufficiently accessible to the public
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`interested in the art on their alleged publication dates. While both RFCs nominally
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`recite the alleged publication dates on their first page, nowhere in the documents is
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`there any indication as to what the date means. (See Ex. 1008 at 1, Ex. 1013 at 1.)
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`RFC 2026, provided by the same “Network Working Group” as RFCs
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`2401and 2543 (compare Ex. 1036 at 1, with Ex. 1008 at 1 and Ex. 1013 at 1),
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`purports to “document[] the process used by the Internet community for the
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`standardization of protocols and procedures” and to “define[] the stages in the
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`standardization process, the requirements for moving a document between stages
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`and the types of documents used during this process.” (See Ex. 1036 at 1.)1
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`Petitioner’s expert, Dr. Tamassia, refers to RFC 2026 in his discussion of how
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`RFCs are “typically” released. (Ex. 1005 at ¶ 152.) Neither Dr. Tamassia nor the
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`Petition establish or even allege that Dr. Tamassia has personal knowledge that
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`RFCs 2401 and 2543 were actually released on their alleged publication dates in
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`the way he says RFCs are typically released. However, even if RFCs 2401 and
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`2543 were released in this manner (and Patent Owner submits that Petitioner has
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`not provided any evidence to establish that it was), Petitioner has still not
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`1 The Petition does not cite to RFC 2026 or to any testimony citing to the
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`document. Therefore, it cannot properly be relied upon to establish RFC 2401 as a
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`printed publication. However, Patent Owner addresses the document to the extent
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`the Board considers statements by Petitioner’s expert regarding RFC 2026 not
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`cited in the Petition. As explained, these statements, and RFC 2026 itself, still fail
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`to establish that RFC 2401 qualifies as a printed publication within the meaning of
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`Section 311(b).
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`established that RFCs 2401 and 2543 qualify as a printed publication within the
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`Case No. IPR2015-00813
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`meaning of Section 311(b).
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`RFC 2026 generally states that “RFCs can be obtained from a number of
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`Internet hosts using anonymous FTP, gopher, World Wide Web, and other Internet
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`document-retrieval systems.” (Id. at 6.) RFC 2026 does not explain how the
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`public interested in the art would become aware of the location of such Internet
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`document-retrieval systems. Indeed, Dr. Tamassia suggests that the intended
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`audience of RFCs 2401 and 2543 would have been limited to the “Network
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`Working Group,” stating the nominal date that RFC documents are “published”
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`merely “starts a period for others to provide comments on the document” (in
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`particular, what RFC 2026 refers to as “community review”). (See Ex. 1005 at ¶
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`152; Ex. 1036 at 20.) RFC 2026 also acknowledges that “[m]any standards groups
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`other than the IETF create and publish standards documents.” (See id. at 24.)
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`In the past, the Board has found that references similar to RFCs 2401 and
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`2543 are not statutory prior art. For example, in Samsung Elecs. Co. v. Rembrandt
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`Wireless Techs., LP, IPR2014-00514, Paper No. 18 at 5, 7 (Sep. 9, 2014), the
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`petitioner relied on a “Draft Standard” of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics
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`Engineers (“IEEE”). The Board found that the petitioner had failed to establish the
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`Draft Standard qualified as a printed publication because the petitioner did not
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`provide evidence as to whether the Draft Standard was made available to persons
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`outside of the IEEE “Working Group” responsible for the Draft Standard and how
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`Case No. IPR2015-00813
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`members of the public would have known about the Draft Standard. See id. at 7-8.
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`Similarly, in Elec. Frontier Found. v. Pers. Audio, LLC, IPR2014-00070, Paper
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`No. 21 at 22-24 (Apr. 18, 2014), the Board found that a reference was not a printed
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`publication where a “Petitioner fail[ed] to provide any information regarding [a
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`reference] posting, the group [to which the reference was posted], who is in the
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`group, or the size of the group.” In both cases, the Board denied institution based
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`on these findings. See Samsung Elecs., IPR2014-00514, Paper No. 18 at 10
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`(“Because Petitioner has not met its burden in establishing that Draft Standard is a
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`‘printed publication’ and, thus, prior art, Petitioner has not shown a reasonable
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`likelihood of prevailing on the grounds asserted.”); Elec. Frontier Found.,
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`IPR2014-00070, Paper No. 21 at 26.
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`Petitioner has similarly failed to meet its burden to establish that RFCs 2401
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`and 2543 are printed publications. For example, Petitioner has not provided any
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`evidence as to (1) whether RFCs 2401 and 2543 were made available to persons
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`outside of the “Network Working Group”; (2) how members of the public outside
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`of the “Network Working Group” would have known about RFCs 2401 and 2543;
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`(3) who is in “Network Working Group”; or (4) the size of the Network Working
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`Group. Therefore, because the Petition does not establish that RFCs 2401 and
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`2543 were printed publications to qualify as prior art, and because all of
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`Petitioner’s proposed rejections rely on either RFCs 2401 and/or 2543, the Board
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`Case No. IPR2015-00813
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`should deny institution of the Petition.
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`B.
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`The Petition’s Obviousness Ground Is Redundant and Should Be
`Denied
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`Concurrent with this Petition, in which Petitioner challenges claims 1, 6-8,
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`10-14, 19-20, and 22-25 of the ’009 patent as obvious over Aventail in view of
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`RFC 2401, and claims 2-5 and 15-18 as obvious over Aventail, RFC 2401, and
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`RCC 2543, Petitioner also filed a petition for inter partes review in IPR2015-
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`00812 (“the ’812 Petition”). The ’812 Petition challenges the same patent and the
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`same claims, asserting two grounds of rejection. The ’812 Petition’s grounds of
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`rejection simply substitute Aventail with Beser, alleging that claims 1-8, 10-20, and
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`22-25 are obvious over Beser in view of RFC 2401. The Petition fails to assert or
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`explain why the proposed grounds in the Petition are not redundant of the grounds
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`in the ’812 Petition. Instead, the Petition contends, without explanation, that each
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`Petition presents “non-redundant grounds.” (Pet. at 2.) Given the Board’s
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`jurisprudence regarding redundancy, Petitioner’s redundant grounds should be
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`rejected.
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`Redundant grounds place a significant burden on the Board and the patent
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`owner, and cause unnecessary delay that jeopardizes meeting the statutory deadline
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`for final written decisions. Liberty Mut. Ins. Co. v. Progressive Cas. Ins. Co.,
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`CBM2012-00003, Paper No. 7 at 2 (Oct. 25, 2012). The consideration of
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`redundant grounds frustrates Congress’s intent that the Board “secure the just,
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`speedy, and inexpensive resolution of every proceeding,” in violation of 37 C.F.R.
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`§ 42.1(b).
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`The Board explains that where multiple grounds of rejection are presented,
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`the “[d]ifferences between the claimed invention and the prior art are a critically
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`important underlying factual inquiry . . . .” Liberty Mut. Ins. Co., CBM2012-
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`00003, Paper No. 7 at 2-3. The redundancy inquiry does not focus on “whether the
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`applied prior art disclosures have differences, for it is rarely the case that the
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`disclosures of different prior art references, will be literally identical. EMC Corp.
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`v. Personal Web Techs., LLC, IPR2013-00087, Paper No. 25 at 3 (June 5, 2013).
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`Rather, the Board considers “whether the petitioner articulated a meaningful
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`distinction in terms of relatives strengths and weaknesses with respect to
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`application of the prior art disclosures to one or more claim limitations.” Id. at 3-4.
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`The Petitioner carries the burden of articulating that “meaningful distinction.”
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`ScentAir Techs., IPR2013-00180, Paper No. 18 at 3. Put simply, “[t]o avoid a
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`holding of redundancy, the Petition has to explain why one reference is better in
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`one respect but worse in another respect.” Toyota Motor Corp. v. Am. Vehicular
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`Sciences LLC, IPR2013-00421, Paper No. 15 at 29 (Jan. 13, 2014).
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`Petitioner’s burden of articulating a distinction between its redundant
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`grounds is not lessened or removed simply because those grounds may appear in
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`more than one petition. In fact, the policy considerations behind denying
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`Case No. IPR2015-00813
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`redundant grounds are even more compelling when those grounds are presented
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`across multiple petitions. Multiple petitions necessitate multiple written decisions
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`and an analysis of a corresponding number of briefs, as well as the potential for
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`differing panels of judges, multiple scheduling conferences, and multiple oral
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`arguments—all of which tax the Board’s resources and diminish its ability to
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`ensure the speedy resolution of each proceeding. Moreover the Board has
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`previously recognized grounds as being redundant across petitions and dismissed
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`the redundant grounds. See Apple Inc. v. VirnetX Inc., IPR2014-00483, Paper No.
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`11 at 6 (Sept. 15, 2014).
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`In Liberty Mutual, the Board identified two types of redundant rejections:
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`(1) “horizontally” redundant rejections and (2) “vertically” redundant rejections.
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`Liberty Mut. Ins. Co., CBM2012-00003, Paper No. 7 at 3. The Board explained
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`that horizontally redundant rejections apply “a plurality of prior art references . . .
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`not in combination to complement each other but as distinct and separate
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`alternatives.” Id. Vertical redundancy “exists when there is assertion of an
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`additional prior art reference to support another ground of unpatentability when a
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`base ground already has been asserted against the same claim without the
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`additional reference and the Petitioner has not explained what are the relative
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`strength and weakness of each ground.” Id. at 12.
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`Case No. IPR2015-00813
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`Here, the Petition is horizontally redundant in view of the ’812 Petition. In
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`both petitions, Petitioner alleges that claims 1, 6-8, 10-14, 19-20, and 22-25 are
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`rendered obvious by either Beser or Aventail in view of RFC 2401. These grounds
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`are horizontally redundant and Petitioner fails to provide any explanation to the
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`contrary.
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`In the instant Petition, Petitioner claims that Aventail discloses each of the
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`claimed limitations, including a “communication link,” but relies on RFC 2401 for
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`the claimed “encrypted communication link.” (Pet. at 32-51.) Similarly, in the
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`’812 Petition, Petitioner claims that Beser discloses each of the claimed limitations,
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`including a communication link, but again relies on RFC 2401 for the claimed
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`“encrypted communication link.” Attempting to address redundancy, Petitioner
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`claims its grounds are “non-redundant” because each petition “present[s] unique
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`correlations of the claims to the prior art.” (Pet. at 2.) But, as the Board has
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`explained, a redundancy analysis does not focus on whether the prior art references
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`are identical. EMC Corp., IPR2013-00087, Paper No. 25 at 3. And Petitioner does
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`not attempt to “articulate[] a meaningful distinction in terms of relative strengths
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`and weaknesses with respect to application of the prior art disclosures to one or
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`more claim limitations.” Id. at 3-4 (emphasis added). Consequently, the Board
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`should deny Petitioner’s redundant grounds.
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`Case No. IPR2015-00813
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`C. The Petition Fails to Show a Reasonable Likelihood That
`Petitioner Will Prevail With Respect to Any Claim
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`The Board may not authorize an inter partes review unless the information
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`presented in the petition “shows that there is a reasonable likelihood that the
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`petitioner would prevail with respect to at least 1 of the claims challenged in the
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`petition.” 35 U.S.C. § 314(a). A petition must be denied if it fails to explain
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`“[h]ow the construed claim is unpatentable,” and “specify where each element of
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`the claim is found in the prior art patents or printed publications relied upon.” 37
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`C.F.R. § 42.104(b)(4). See, e.g., Google Inc. et al. v. EveryMD.com LLC,
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`IPR2014-00347, Paper No. 9 at 18-20 (May 22, 2014) (rejecting petition for
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`insufficient explanation); Apple Inc. v. Evolutionary Intelligence, LLC, IPR2014-
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`00079, Paper No. 8 at 17-19 (Apr. 25, 2014) (rejecting petition for including
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`“vague” explanation of the prior art); Tempur Sealy Int’l, Inc. v. Select Comfort
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`Corp., IPR2014-01419, Paper No. 9 (Mar. 27, 2015) (rejecting petition for not
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`identifying specific portions of the evidence that support the challenge and not
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`specifying where each element of the claim is found in those references).
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`Here, the petition fails to satisfy the requirements of both 35 U.S.C. § 314(a)
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`and 37 C.F.R. § 42.104(b)(4). Based on the petition’s mapping of the claimed
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`features to Aventail, one or more claimed features of the independent claims are
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`not disclosed and hence, there is no reasonable likelihood of prevailing with
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`respect to even one claim. Furthermore, the petition’s analysis is conclusory in
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`several places and fails to meet the specificity required by § 42.104(b)(4). For
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`Case No. IPR2015-00813
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`example, the petition fails to show “[h]ow the construed claim is unpatentable”
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`because it fails to apply Petitioner’s proposed claim construction to the cited
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`references.
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`1.
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`The Cited Portions of Aventail Do Not Disclose the Claimed
`“Determination”
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`Claim 1 of the ’009 patent recites a “determination that the second network
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`device is available for the secure communications service.” (Ex. 1003 at 56:31-
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`33.) Petitioner contends that the claimed “determination” is disclosed by Aventail
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`because Aventail discloses determining whether a domain name specified in a
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`connection request matches a domain name of a remote host in Aventail
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`Connect’s table of redirection rules. (Pet. at 38, “Aventail discloses this
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`determination being made using redirection rules based on the identity of the
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`remote host specified in the connection request.” (emphasis added).) According
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`to Petitioner, “inclusion of the remote host in the redirection rule table . . . enables
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`the Aventail Connect client to determine if the remote host will require an
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`encrypted connection” (Id., citing Ex. 1009 at 8-9, 11-12, 40 and Ex. 1005 at ¶
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`237.) Both of these propositions are incorrect. First, a domain name is never
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`specified in the connection request. Second, the mere inclusion of the remote
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`host in the redirection table does not mean that the remote host will accept or
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`require any encrypted connection because, as even Petitioner admits (see Pet. at
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`47), Aventail does not teach an encrypted connection to the remote host. The
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`Case No. IPR2015-00813
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`following brief overview of Aventail makes clear the above-noted deficiencies.
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`Aventail discloses that Aventail Connect is an application designed to run on
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`a workstation and it routes network traffic from an application to a proxy server
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`(the Extranet (SOCKS) server). (Ex. 1009 at 7-9.) The Extranet server “sends the
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`traffic to the Internet or the external network.” (Id. at 7.) Certain traffic may be
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`routed through the Extranet server so that a remote host may be accessed. (Id. at 6-
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`7.)
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`The operation of Aventail Connect is described on pages 11-13, under the
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`heading “How Does Aventail Connect Work?” First, a “DNS lookup” is received
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`at Aventail Connect from a client application. (Id. at 11.) If the destination
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`hostname in the DNS lookup “matches a redirection rule” or the “DNS proxy
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`option is enabled and the domain cannot be looked up directly,” a “false DNS
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`entry” is created by Aventail Connect and returned to the client application. (Id. at
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`12.) A redirection rule defines, for a destination (e.g., a remote host), what type of
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`traffic (i.e., TCP and/or UDP) will be allowed to be routed to that destination, and
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`the type of proxy redirection. (Id. at 38-40.) In the proxy redirection field, the
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`administrator can specify one of three options (see table below):
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`(Id. at 40.)
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`Case No. IPR2015-00813
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`The above actions occur in step 1 as recited in Aventail. (Id. at 11-12.) In
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`step 2, the client application requests a connection to the remote host and this
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`connection request is checked by Aventail Connect. (Id. at 12.) The connection
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`request may contain a previously-created “false DNS entry” that indicates whether
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`the connection should be proxied. (Id.) When such a “connection is completed,”
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`the SOCKS negotiation process “begins,” resulting in a connection to the “extranet
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`(SOCKS) server.” (Id.) During the SOCKS negotiation, Aventail Connect sends a
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`list of authentication methods enabled in its configuration file and once the
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`Extranet Server selects one of the authentication methods, “Aventail Connect
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`executes the specified authentication processing.” (Id.) Aventail Connect “then
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`sends the proxy request to the extranet (SOCKS) server” (emphasis added) and the
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`proxy request includes “either the IP address provided by the application or the
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`DNS entry (hostname) . . . .” (Id.) The application then transmits and receives
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`data. (Id.)
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`In step 3, the application transmits and receives data. (Id.) “If an encryption
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`module is enabled and selected by the SOCKS server, Aventail Connect encrypts
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`the data on its way to the [Extranet] server on behalf of the application.” (Id.) But,
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`as Petitioner admits, Aventail does not disclose that traffic is encrypted to the
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`remote host. (Pet. at 47-51.