throbber
Paper No. ___
`Filed: February 18, 2015
`
`UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
`
`______________
`
`
`
`BEFORE THE PATENT TRIAL AND APPEAL BOARD
`
`______________
`
`VMR PRODUCTS LLC
`Petitioner,
`
`v.
`
`FONTEM HOLDINGS 1 B.V.
`Patent Owner.
`______________
`
`
`
`Case IPR2015-00859
`Patent No. 8,365,742 B2
`
`
`
`
`
`______________________________________________________________
`
`PATENT OWNER’S MANDATORY NOTICES
`
`111971-0017/LEGAL125508475.1
`
`

`
`Pursuant to 37 C.F.R. § 42.8, Patent Owner, Fontem Holdings 1 B.V.
`
`submits the following Mandatory Notices in response to the Petition for Inter
`
`Partes Review of U.S. Patent No. 8,365,742 (“the ‘742 patent” or “the involved
`
`patent”).
`
`1. Real Party-In-Interest
`
`In accordance with 37 C.F.R. § 42.8(b)(1), Patent Owner identifies the real
`
`party-in interest as Fontem Holdings 1 B.V.; 12th Floor, Barbara Strozzilaan 101;
`
`1083 HN Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Fontem Holdings 1 B.V. is a
`
`Netherlands corporation and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Fontem Ventures
`
`B.V. also of 12th Floor, Barbara Strozzilaan 101; 1083 HN Amsterdam, The
`
`Netherlands, which is in turn a wholly owned subsidiary of Imperial Tobacco
`
`Group PLC. Imperial Tobacco Group PLC is an English corporation having a
`
`registered office at 121 Winterstoke Road, Bristol, UK BS3 2LL. Fontem
`
`Holdings 1 B.V. became the Patent Owner via an assignment executed December
`
`9, 2013.
`
`2. Related Matters
`
`In accordance with 37 C.F.R. § 42.8(b)(2), Patent Owner identifies the
`
`following related judicial proceedings (involving, among other patents, the ‘742
`
`patent or related U.S. Patent No. 8,156,944).
`
`
`111971-0017/LEGAL125508475.1
`
`1
`
`

`
`a. Fontem Ventures B.V. and Fontem Holdings 1 B.V. v. NJOY, Inc.,
`
`Civil Action No. 14-CV-1645 GW (MRWx), U.S. District Court for the Central
`
`District of California;
`
`b. Fontem Ventures B.V. and Fontem Holdings 1 B.V. v. LOEC, Inc. dba
`
`blu cigs, Civil Action No. 14-CV-1648 GW (MRWx), U.S. District Court for the
`
`Central District of California;
`
`c. Fontem Ventures B.V. and Fontem Holdings 1 B.V. v. CB
`
`Distributors, Inc. and DR Distributors, LLC, Civil Action No. 14-CV-1649 GW
`
`(MRWx), U.S. District Court for the Central District of California;
`
`d. Fontem Ventures B.V. and Fontem Holdings 1 B.V. v. Vapor Corp.,
`
`Civil Action No. 14-CV-1650 GW (MRWx), U.S. District Court for the Central
`
`District of California;
`
`e. Fontem Ventures B.V. and Fontem Holdings 1 B.V. v. FIN Branding
`
`Group, LLC and Victory Electronic Cigarettes Corporation, Civil Action No. 14-
`
`CV-1651 GW (MRWx), U.S. District Court for the Central District of California;
`
`f. Fontem Ventures B.V. and Fontem Holdings 1 B.V. v. Ballantyne
`
`Brands, LLC, Civil Action No. 14-CV-1652 GW (MRWx), U.S. District Court for
`
`the Central District of California;
`
`
`111971-0017/LEGAL125508475.1
`
`2
`
`

`
`g. Fontem Ventures B.V. and Fontem Holdings 1 B.V. v. Spark
`
`Industries, LLC, Civil Action No. 14-CV-1653 GW (MRWx), U.S. District Court
`
`for the Central District of California;
`
`h. Fontem Ventures B.V. and Fontem Holdings 1 B.V. v. Logic
`
`Technology Development LLC, Civil Action No. 14-CV-1654 GW (MRWx), U.S.
`
`District Court for the Central District of California;
`
`i. Fontem Ventures B.V. and Fontem Holdings 1 B.V. v. VMR Products,
`
`LLC, dba V2Cigs, Civil Action No. 14-CV-1655 GW (MRWx), U.S. District Court
`
`for the Central District of California.
`
`j. Ruyan Investment (Holdings) Limited v. Sottera, Inc. et al., Civil
`
`Action No. CV12-5454 GAF (FFMx), U.S. District Court for the Central District
`
`of California;
`
`k. Ruyan Investment (Holdings) Limited v. LOEC, Inc. et al., Civil
`
`Action No. CV12-5455 GAF (FFMx), U.S. District Court for the Central District
`
`of California;
`
`l. Ruyan Investment (Holdings) Limited v. CB Distributors, Inc. et al.,
`
`Civil Action No. CV12-5456 GAF (FFMx), U.S. District Court for the Central
`
`District of California;
`
`
`111971-0017/LEGAL125508475.1
`
`3
`
`

`
`m. Ruyan Investment (Holdings) Limited v. The Safe Cig LLC, Civil
`
`Action No. CV12-54562 GAF (FFMx), U.S. District Court for the Central District
`
`of California;
`
`n. Ruyan Investment (Holdings) Limited v. Vapor Corp., Civil Action
`
`No. CV12-5466 GAF (FFMx), U.S. District Court for the Central District of
`
`California;
`
`o. Ruyan Investment (Holdings) Limited v. Finiti Branding Group LLC,
`
`Civil Action No. CV12-5468 GAF (FFMx), U.S. District Court for the Central
`
`District of California;
`
`p. Ruyan Investment (Holdings) Limited v. Sottera, Inc. et al., Civil
`
`Action No. CV12-5454 GAF (FFMx), U.S. District Court for the Central District
`
`of California;
`
`q. Ruyan Investment (Holdings) Limited v. Spark Industries LLC, Civil
`
`Action No. CV12-5472 GAF (FFMx), U.S. District Court for the Central District
`
`of California;
`
`r. Ruyan Investment (Holdings) Limited v. Nicotek LLC, Civil Action
`
`No. CV12-5472 GAF (FFMx), U.S. District Court for the Central District of
`
`California; and
`
`
`111971-0017/LEGAL125508475.1
`
`4
`
`

`
`s. Ruyan
`
`Investment
`
`(Holdings) Limited v. Logic Technology
`
`Development LLC, Civil Action No. CV12-5482 GAF (FFMx), U.S. District Court
`
`for the Central District of California.
`
`In addition, Patent Owner identifies the following related administrative
`
`matters pursuant to the Federal Register Vol. 77, No. 157, Final Rule, issued
`
`August 14, 2012 at page 48617: “Examples of related administrative matters that
`
`will be affected by the a decision in the proceeding include every application and
`
`patent that claims, or which may claim, the benefit of the priority of the filing
`
`date of the party’s involved patent or application, as well as any ex parte and inter
`
`partes reexaminations for an involved patent.”
`
`t. U.S. Patent No. 8,156,944, issued April 17, 2012 to Lik Hon, filed
`
`October 29, 2008 as U.S. Patent Application No. 12/226,818, which is the parent
`
`of the ‘742 patent;
`
`u. U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 20130125906, corresponding
`
`to U.S. Patent Application No. 13/740,011, filed January 11, 2013 and now
`
`pending, which is a continuation of the ‘742 patent;
`
`v. U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 20140209110, corresponding
`
`to U.S. Application No. 14/244,376, filed April 3, 2014 and now pending, which is
`
`a continuation of U.S. Patent Application No. 13/740,011 (item u. above);
`
`
`111971-0017/LEGAL125508475.1
`
`5
`
`

`
`w. Inter Partes Reexamination No. 95/002,235 of U.S. Patent No.
`
`8,156,944 before the U.S. Patent Office, filed by FIN Branding Group, LLC and
`
`currently stayed pending the outcome of item x. below; and
`
`x. Inter Partes Review No. IPR2013-00387 of U.S. Patent No.
`
`8,156,944, filed by CB Distributors/DR Distributors, decided by the Patent Trial
`
`and Appeal Board of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office December 24, 2014
`
`and currently being docketed for appeal before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the
`
`Federal Circuit.
`
`3. Lead and BackUp Counsel
`
`In accordance with 37 C.F.R. § 42.8(b)(3), Patent Owner identifies Michael
`
`J. Wise as lead counsel and Joseph P. Hamilton as backup counsel:
`
`Michael J. Wise,
`Lead Counsel
`USPTO Reg. No. 34,047
`PERKINS COIE LLP
`1888 Century Park East, Suite 1700
`Los Angeles, CA 90067
`Phone: 310-788-3210
`Facsimile: 310-788-3399
`Email: MWise@perkinscoie.com
`
`Joseph P. Hamilton,
`Backup Counsel
`USPTO Reg. No. 51,770
`PERKINS COIE LLP
`1888 Century Park East, Suite 1700
`Los Angeles, CA 90067
`Phone: 310-788-3271
`Facsimile: 310-788-3399
`Email: JHamilton@perkinscoie.com
`
`
`111971-0017/LEGAL125508475.1
`
`6
`
`

`
`4.
`
`Service Information
`
`In accordance with 37 C.F.R. § 42.8(b)(4), Patent Owner identifies the
`
`following service information:
`
`Patent Docketing
`PERKINS COIE LLP
`P.O. Box 1247
`Seattle, WA 98111-1247
`Email: patentprocurement@perkinscoie.com
`Michael J. Wise – MWise@perkinscoie.com
`Joseph P. Hamilton – JHamilton@perkinscoie.com
`
`Date: March 31, 2015
`
`
`
`Respectfully submitted,
`
`
`
`By: / Michael J. Wise /
`Michael J. Wise, Reg. No. 34,047
`Perkins Coie LLP
`1888 Century Park East, Suite 1700
`Los Angeles, CA 90067
`Phone: 310-788-3210
`Facsimile: 310-788-3399
`MWise@PerkinsCoie.com
`Counsel for Patent Owner
`
`
`
`111971-0017/LEGAL125508475.1
`
`7
`
`

`
`CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
`
`
`
`The undersigned hereby certifies that a copy of this Patent Owner’s
`
`Mandatory Notices has been served via electronic mail and U.S. mail upon the
`
`following counsel of record for Petitioner VMR Products LLC on March 31, 2015:
`
`
`Gregory L. Hillyer, Lead Counsel
`Javier Sobrado, Backup Counsel
`FELDMAN GALE, P.A.
`5335 Wisconsin Avenue, N.W., Suite 410
`Washington, DC 20015
`ghillyer@feldmangale.com
`jsobrado@feldmangale.com
`
`
`
`
`/ Amy Candeloro /
`Amy Candeloro, Paralegal
`Perkins Coie LLP
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`111971-0017/LEGAL125508475.1

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