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
`
`
`
`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
`
`v.
`
`VIRNETX INC.
`Patent Owner
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`Case IPR2015-00868
`Patent 8,516,131
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`Declaration of Fabian Monrose, Ph.D.
`
`
`
`
`
`VIRNETX EXHIBIT 2018
`Apple v. VirnetX
`Trial IPR2015-00868
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`Page 1 of 40
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`

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`Case No. IPR2015-00868
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`Table of Contents
`
`Introduction ...................................................................................................... 1
`
`Resources Consulted ........................................................................................ 2
`
`
`
`
`I.
`
`II.
`
`III. Background and Qualifications ....................................................................... 2
`
`IV. Level of Ordinary Skill .................................................................................... 7
`
`V.
`
`Claim Terms .................................................................................................... 8
`
`A.
`
`Secure Communication Link (Claims 1, 3, 10, 15, and 16) .................. 8
`
`1.
`
`2.
`
`3.
`
`“Authentication” and “Address Hopping” Alone Do Not
`Result in a “Secure Communication Link” ................................. 9
`
`A “Secure Communication Link” Must Be Direct ...................12
`
`A “Secure Communication Link” Requires Encryption ...........13
`
`B.
`
`C.
`
`“Provisioning Information” (Claims 1 and 15) ...................................14
`
`“Virtual Private Network Link” (Claim 10)........................................16
`
`1.
`
`2.
`
`3.
`
`4.
`
`5.
`
`A “Virtual Private Network Link” Requires a Virtual
`Private Network ........................................................................17
`
`“Authentication” and “Address Hopping” Alone Do Not
`Result in a “Virtual Private Network Link”..............................17
`
`A “Virtual Private Network Link” Must Be Direct ..................18
`
`A “Virtual Private Network Link” Requires a Network ...........18
`
`A “Virtual Private Network Link” Requires Encryption ..........19
`
`D. Other Terms .........................................................................................20
`
`VI. Beser and RFC 2401 ......................................................................................22
`
`A.
`
`B.
`
`Beser’s Disclosure ...............................................................................22
`
`Claims 1 and 15 ...................................................................................25
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`i
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`Case No. IPR2015-00868
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`1.
`
`2.
`
`3.
`
`“Send[ing] a Request to Look Up an Internet Protocol
`(IP) Address of a Second Network Device Based On a
`Domain Name Associated With the Second Network
`Device” ......................................................................................25
`
`“Interception of the Request”....................................................28
`
`Beser and RFC 2401 .................................................................30
`
`C. Dependent Claims ...............................................................................35
`
`1.
`
`2.
`
`3.
`
`Claims 3 and 16.........................................................................35
`
`Claim 10 ....................................................................................36
`
`Claims 2, 4-9, 13, 14, 17-22, and 25-27 ...................................37
`
`VII. Conclusion .....................................................................................................37
`
`
`
`ii
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`Page 3 of 40
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`I.
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`Case No. IPR2015-00868
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`I, FABIAN MONROSE, declare as follows:
`
`Introduction
`I have been retained by VirnetX Inc. (“VirnetX”) for this inter partes
`
`1.
`
`review proceeding. I understand that this proceeding involves U.S. Patent No.
`
`8,516,131 (“the ’131 patent”). I understand the ’131 patent is assigned to VirnetX
`
`and that it is part of a family of patents that stems from U.S. provisional
`
`application nos. 60/106,261 (“the ’261 application”), filed on October 30, 1998,
`
`and 60/137,704 (“the ’704 application”), filed on June 7, 1999. I understand that
`
`the ’131 patent is a continuation of U.S. application no. 13/049,552 filed March 16,
`
`2011 (“the ’552 application”), which is a continuation of U.S. application no.
`
`11/840,560 filed August 17, 2007 (now U.S. Patent No. 7,921,211, “the ’211
`
`patent”), which is a continuation of U.S. application no. 10/714,849 filed
`
`November 18, 2003 (now U.S. Patent No. 7,418,504, “the ’504 patent), which is a
`
`continuation of U.S. application no. 09/558,210 filed April 26, 2000 (“the ’210
`
`application,” abandoned). And I understand the ’210 application is a continuation-
`
`in-part of U.S. application no. 09/504,783 filed February 15, 2000 (now U.S.
`
`Patent 6,502,135, “the ’135 patent”), and that the ’135 patent is a continuation-in-
`
`part of U.S. application no. 09/429,643 filed October 29, 1999 (now U.S. Patent
`
`No. 7,010,604), which claims priority to the ’261 and ’704 applications.
`
`1
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`Case No. IPR2015-00868
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`II. Resources Consulted
`I have reviewed the ’131 patent, including claims 1-27. I have also
`2.
`
`reviewed the Petition for Inter Partes Review (Paper No. 1) filed with the U.S.
`
`Patent and Trademark Office (“Office”) by Apple Inc. on March 17, 2015 (Paper
`
`No. 1, the “Petition”). I have also reviewed the Patent Trial and Appeal Board’s
`
`(“Board”) decision to institute inter partes review (Paper No. 8, the “Decision”) of
`
`October 1, 2015.
`
`3.
`
`I understand that in this proceeding the Board instituted review of the
`
`’131 patent on one ground: (1) obviousness of claims 1-10, 13-22, and 25-27 over
`
`Beser and RFC 2401. I have reviewed the exhibits and other documentation
`
`supporting the Petition that are relevant to the Decision and the instituted grounds,
`
`and any other material that I reference in this declaration.
`
`III. Background and Qualifications
`I have a great deal of experience and familiarity with computer and
`4.
`
`network security, and have been working in this field since 1993 when I entered
`
`the Ph.D. program at New York University.
`
`5.
`
`I am currently a Professor of Computer Science at the University of
`
`North Carolina at Chapel Hill. I also hold an appointment as the Director of
`
`Computer and Information Security at the Renaissance Computing Institute
`
`(RENCI). RENCI develops and deploys advanced technologies to facilitate
`
`2
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`Case No. IPR2015-00868
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`research discoveries and practical innovations. To that end, RENCI partners with
`
`researchers, policy makers, and technology leaders to solve the challenging
`
`problems that affect North Carolina and our nation as a whole. In my capacity as
`
`Director of Computer and Information Security, I
`
`lead
`
`the design and
`
`implementation of new platforms for enabling access to, and analysis of, large and
`
`sensitive biomedical data sets while ensuring security, privacy, and compliance
`
`with regulatory requirements. At RENCI, we are designing new architectures for
`
`securing access to data (e.g., using virtual private networks and data leakage
`
`prevention technologies) hosted among many different institutions. Additionally, I
`
`serve on RENCI’s Security, Privacy, Ethics, and Regulatory Oversight Committee
`
`(SPOC), which oversees the security and regulatory compliance of technologies,
`
`designed under the newly-formed Data Science Research Program and the Secure
`
`Medical Research Workspace.
`
`6.
`
`I received my B.Sc. in Computer Science from Barry University in
`
`May 1993. I received my MSc. and Ph.D. in Computer Science from the Courant
`
`Institute of Mathematical Sciences at New York University in 1996 and 1999,
`
`respectively. Upon graduating from the Ph.D. program, I joined the Systems
`
`Security Group at Bell Labs, Lucent Technologies. There, my work focused on the
`
`analysis of
`
`Internet Security
`
`technologies
`
`(e.g.,
`
`IPsec and client-side
`
`authentication) and applying
`
`these
`
`technologies
`
`to Lucent’s portfolio of
`
`3
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`commercial products. In 2002, I joined the Johns Hopkins University as Assistant
`
`Professor in the Computer Science department. I also served as a founding
`
`member of the Johns Hopkins University Information Security Institute (JHUISI).
`
`At JHUISI, I served a key role in building a center of excellence in Cyber Security,
`
`leading efforts in research, education, and outreach.
`
`7.
`
`In July of 2008, I joined the Computer Science department at the
`
`University of North Carolina (UNC) Chapel Hill as Associate Professor, and was
`
`promoted to Full Professor four years later. In my current position at UNC Chapel
`
`Hill, I work with a large group of students and research scientists on topics related
`
`to cyber security. My former students now work as engineers at several large
`
`companies, as researchers in labs, or as university professors themselves. Today,
`
`my research focuses on applied areas of computer and communications security,
`
`with a focus on traffic analysis of encrypted communications (e.g., Voice over IP);
`
`Domain Name System (DNS) monitoring for performance and network abuse;
`
`network security architectures for traffic engineering; biometrics and client-to-
`
`client authentication techniques; computer forensics and data provenance; runtime
`
`attacks and defenses for hardening operating system security; and large-scale
`
`empirical analyses of computer security incidents. I also regularly teach courses in
`
`computer and information security.
`
`4
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`8.
`
`I have published over 80 papers in prominent computer and
`
`communications security publications. My research has received numerous
`
`awards, including the Best Student Paper Award (IEEE Symposium on Security &
`
`Privacy, July, 2013), the Outstanding Research in Privacy Enhancing Technologies
`
`Award (July, 2012), the AT&T Best Applied Security Paper Award (NYU-Poly
`
`CSAW, Nov., 2011), and the Best Paper Award (IEEE Symposium on Security &
`
`Privacy, May, 2011), among others. My research has also received corporate
`
`sponsorship, including two Google Faculty Research Awards (2009, 2011) for my
`
`work on network security and computer forensics, as well as an award from
`
`Verisign Inc. (2012) for my work on DNS.
`
`9.
`
`I am the sole inventor or a co-inventor on three issued US patents and
`
`four pending patent applications, nearly all of which relate to network and systems
`
`security. Over the past 12 years, I have been the lead investigator or a
`
`co-investigator on grants totaling nearly nine million US dollars from the National
`
`Science Foundation (NSF), the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the
`
`Department of Defense (DoD), and industry. In 2014, I was invited to serve on the
`
`Information Science and Technology (ISAT) study group for the Defense
`
`Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). During my
`
`three year
`
`appointment, I will assist DARPA by providing continuing and independent
`
`5
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`assessment of the state of advanced information science and technology as it
`
`relates to the U.S. Department of Defense.
`
`10.
`
`I have chaired several international conferences and workshops,
`
`including for example, the USENIX Security Symposium, which is the premier
`
`systems-security conference for academics and practitioners alike. Additionally, I
`
`have also served as Program Chair for the USENIX Workshop on Hot Topics in
`
`Security, the Program Chair for the USENIX Workshop on Large-scale Exploits &
`
`Emergent Threats, the local arrangements Chair for the Financial Cryptography
`
`and Data Security Conference, the General Chair of the Symposium on Research in
`
`Attacks and Defenses, and the Co-Chair and Chair for the Symposium on Research
`
`in Attacks and Defenses in 2015 and 2016, respectively As a leader in the field, I
`
`have also served on numerous technical program committees including the
`
`Symposium on Electronic Crime Research (2016), Research in Attacks, Intrusions,
`
`and Defenses Symposium (2012, 2013), USENIX Security Symposium (2013,
`
`2005-2009), Financial Cryptography and Data Security (2011, 2012), Digital
`
`Forensics Research Conference (2011, 2012), ACM Conference on Computer and
`
`Communications Security (2009-2011, 2013), IEEE Symposium on Security and
`
`Privacy (2007, 2008), ISOC Network & Distributed System Security (2006—
`
`2009), International Conference on Distributed Computing Systems (2005, 2009,
`
`6
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`2010), and USENIX Workshop on Large-scale Exploits and Emergent Threats
`
`(2010-2012).
`
`11. From 2006 to 2009, I served as an Associate Editor for IEEE
`
`Transactions on Information and Systems Security (the leading technical journal
`
`on cyber security), and currently serve on the Steering Committee for the USENIX
`
`Security Symposium.
`
`12. My curriculum vitae, which is appended, details my background and
`
`technical qualifications. Although I am being compensated at my standard rate of
`
`$450/hour for my work in this matter, the compensation in no way affects the
`
`statements in this declaration.
`
`IV. Level of Ordinary Skill
`I am familiar with the level of ordinary skill in the art with respect to
`13.
`
`the inventions of the ’131 patent as of what I understand is the patent’s early-2000
`
`priority date. Specifically, based on my review of the technology, the educational
`
`level of active workers in the field, and drawing on my own experience, I
`
`believe a person of ordinary skill in art at that time would have had a master’s
`
`degree in computer science or computer engineering, as well as two years of
`
`experience in computer networking with some accompanying exposure to network
`
`security. My view is consistent with VirnetX’s view that a person of ordinary skill
`
`in the art requires a master’s degree in computer science or computer engineering
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`and approximately two years of experience in computer networking and computer
`
`security. I have been asked to respond to certain opinions offered by Dr. Roberto
`
`Tamassia, consider how one of ordinary skill would have understood certain claim
`
`terms, and consider how one of ordinary skill in the art would have understood the
`
`references mentioned above in relation to the claims of the ’131 patent. My
`
`findings are set forth below.
`
`V. Claim Terms
`I understand that in an inter partes review proceeding, the claims of a
`14.
`
`patent are construed under the broadest reasonable interpretation in light of the
`
`specification. I also understand that the parties have proposed constructions for
`
`certain terms of the ’131 patent. Unless otherwise noted, I have used Patent
`
`Owner’s proposed constructions in my analysis. In my opinion, Patent Owner’s
`
`proposed constructions are consistent with the specification. To the extent Patent
`
`Owner has not proposed a construction for a term, I understand that term to have
`
`its plain and ordinary meaning from the perspective of one of ordinary skill in the
`
`art in light of the specification. I have applied this understanding in my analysis.
`
`A.
`15.
`
`Secure Communication Link (Claims 1, 3, 10, 15, and 16)
`
`I understand that the parties and the Board have put forth the following
`
`constructions for purposes of this proceeding:
`
`8
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`

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`Patent Owner’s Proposed
`Construction
`A direct communication link
`that provides data security
`through encryption
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`Case No. IPR2015-00868
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`Petitioner’s Proposed
`Construction
`A transmission path that
`restricts access to data,
`addresses, or other
`information on the path,
`generally using obfuscation
`methods to hide information
`on the path, including, but
`not limited to, one or more
`of authentication,
`encryption, or address
`hopping
`
`Decision’s
`Construction
`A transmission path
`that restricts access to
`data, addresses, or
`other information on
`the path, generally
`using obfuscation
`methods to hide
`information on the
`path, including, but
`not limited to, one or
`more of
`authentication,
`encryption, or
`address hopping
`
`
`16. One of ordinary skill in the art would have understood that a “secure
`
`communication link” in view of the specification is a “direct communication link
`
`that provides data security through encryption,” as opposed to the Petitioner’s
`
`proposed construction which I understand the Board has adopted (Decision at 7-8).
`
`1.
`
`“Authentication” and “Address Hopping” Alone Do Not
`Result in a “Secure Communication Link”
`
`17. Of the obfuscation methods listed in the Petitioner’s proposed
`
`construction—authentication, encryption, and address hopping—only encryption
`
`restricts access to “data, addresses, or other information on the path,” as required
`
`by the first portion of Petitioner’s construction. (Pet. at 12-14; see also Decision at
`
`9
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`Case No. IPR2015-00868
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`8 at 7-8). Authentication and address hopping alone do not “hide information on
`
`the path,” as Petitioner’s construction requires. (Id.)
`
`18. One of ordinary skill in the art would have understood that
`
`authentication merely “[e]nsur[es] that a message originated from the expected
`
`sender and has not been altered on route.” (Ex. 2008 at 3, Glossary for the Linux
`
`FreeS/WAN Project.) Authentication alone does not prevent an eavesdropper from
`
`accessing data
`
`transmitted over an unsecure communication
`
`link.
`
` The
`
`specification is consistent with this understanding. For instance, the specification
`
`describes at least one scenario where an authenticated transmission occurs “in the
`
`clear”—i.e., over an unsecured communication link:
`
`SDNS [secure domain name service] 3313 can be accessed
`through secure portal 3310 “in the clear”, that is, without using
`an administrative VPN communication link. In this situation,
`secure portal 3310 preferably authenticates the query using any
`well-known technique, such as a cryptographic technique,
`before allowing the query to proceed to SDNS [3313].
`
`(Ex. 1003 at 52:12-17.) Authentication is not sufficient by itself to “hide
`
`information on the path,” as required by Petitioner’s proposed construction.
`
`19. One of ordinary skill in the art would also have understood that address
`
`hopping alone also does not hide information, as there is nothing inherent in
`
`moving from address to address that hides information on the path or precludes an
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`Case No. IPR2015-00868
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`eavesdropper from reading the details of a communication. Consistent with this
`
`understanding, the ’131 patent discloses embodiments that use encryption in
`
`conjunction with address hopping to protect, for example, the next address in a
`
`routing scheme from being viewed by eavesdroppers. (See, e.g., Ex. 1003 at 3:36-
`
`50, stating in part that “[e]ach TARP packet’s true destination is concealed behind
`
`a layer of encryption generated using a link key.”) It is the encryption that hides
`
`information on the path while moving from address to address. (See, e.g., Ex.
`
`1003 at 3:16-4:40.) Address hopping is not sufficient by itself to “hide information
`
`on the path,” as required by Petitioner’s proposed construction.
`
`20.
`
`I understand that Petitioner asserted that I agreed during my cross-
`
`examination in another case that address hopping hides information on the path.
`
`(Pet. at 13, citing Ex. 1055 at 113:16-114:12.) Petitioner’s understanding is
`
`misplaced. I do not agree that address hopping does this. Indeed, as I explained
`
`during that examination, address hopping simply makes it such that “[y]ou may not
`
`be able to determine in isolation who is speaking to whom.” (Ex. 1055 at 114:1-6.)
`
`That is, address hopping may make it more difficult to determine the originating
`
`and terminating devices, but it alone does not “hide” the addresses. Nor does
`
`authentication.
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`A “Secure Communication Link” Must Be Direct
`
`2.
`21. The understanding that a secure communication link is a direct link is
`
`consistent with the specification.
`
`22. For instance, in one embodiment, the ’131 patent describes the link
`
`between an originating TARP terminal and a destination TARP terminal as direct.
`
`(See, e.g., Ex. 1003 at 10:13-22, Fig. 2; see also id. at 34:14-20 (describing a
`
`variation of the TARP embodiments as including a direct communication link);
`
`38:40-43 (describing the embodiment of Figure 24 in which a first computer and
`
`second computer are connected directly).) The ’131 patent similarly describes
`
`direct communications in later embodiments as well. (See, e.g., id. at 40:42-45,
`
`41:35-38 (describing a virtual private network as being direct between a user’s
`
`computer and target), 42:42-46, 43:35-39 (describing a load balancing example in
`
`which a virtual private network is direct between a first host and a second host),
`
`49:35-37, 49:43-58 (describing a secure communication link that is direct between
`
`a first computer and a second computer), Figs. 24, 26, 28, 29, 33.)
`
`23.
`
`In each of these embodiments, the ’131 patent specification discloses
`
`that the link traverses a network (or networks) through which it is simply passed or
`
`routed via various network devices such as Internet Service Providers, firewalls,
`
`and routers. (See, e.g., id. at Figs. 2, 24, 28, 29, 33.)
`
`24.
`
`I thus agree that a secure communication link is a direct link.
`
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`A “Secure Communication Link” Requires Encryption
`
`3.
`25. One of ordinary skill in the art would have understood that in the
`
`context of the specification of the ’131 patent, a secure communication link
`
`requires encryption. For instance, the patent specification teaches that “data
`
`security is usually tackled using some form of data encryption,” and it repeatedly
`
`discusses using encryption. (Ex. 1003 at 1:56-57; see also id. at 3:17-19 (“TARP”
`
`embodiments described as using a “unique two-layer encryption format”), 3:36-37
`
`(“[e]ach TARP packet’s true destination address is concealed behind a layer of
`
`encryption”), 4:7-9 (“[t]he message payload is hidden behind an inner layer of
`
`encryption”), 10:32-33, 11:48-55, 34:46-47.)
`
`26.
`
`I understand that Petitioner contends that I agreed during cross-
`
`examination for another case that the specification of a related patent has
`
`“opposing views” as to the meaning of secure communication. (Pet. at 13, citing
`
`Ex. 1055 at 113:16-114:12, 74:12-14.) I disagree with Petitioner’s representation.
`
`First, neither of the sections to which Petitioner cites discusses any “opposing
`
`views” of secure communication. (See Ex. 1055 at 113:16-114:12, 74:12-14.)
`
`Further, where I did use the phrase, it was in response to a question as to whether
`
`the specification includes an explicit definition for “secure communication link.”
`
`(Id. at 66:11-17.) In reply, I stated that I believe the parties had “opposing views”
`
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`Case No. IPR2015-00868
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`on the term. (Id.) I disagree that the specification of that related patent and the
`
`’131 patent has opposing views as to the meaning of secure communication.
`
`B.
`27.
`
`“Provisioning Information” (Claims 1 and 15)
`
`I understand that the parties and the Board have put forth the following
`
`constructions for purposes of this proceeding:
`
`Patent Owner’s Proposed
`Construction
`Information that is used to
`establish a secure
`communication link
`
`Petitioner’s Proposed
`Construction
`Information that enables
`communication in a virtual
`private network
`
`
`
`Decision’s
`Construction
`Information that is
`provided to enable or
`to aid in establishing
`a secure
`communication
`channel
`
`28.
`
`In my opinion, Patent Owner’s construction is consistent with the
`
`general notion that provisioning refers to setting up or establishing a connection or
`
`service.
`
` One dictionary explains
`
`that provisioning
`
`is “[s]etting up a
`
`telecommunications service for a particular customer,” and that “[c]ommon
`
`carriers provision circuits by programming their computers to switch customer
`
`lines into the appropriate networks.” (Ex. 2007 at 6, McGraw-Hill Computer
`
`Desktop Encyclopedia (9th ed. 2001).) Applying these principles to provisioning
`
`in the context of the ’131 patent, secure communication link provisioning refers to
`
`setting up or establishing a secure communication link. Thus, in the context of the
`
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`Case No. IPR2015-00868
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`’131 patent, the “provisioning information” is “information that is used to establish
`
`a secure communication link.”
`
`29. The Board seems to partially agree with this notion that provisioning
`
`refers to establishing, but provisionally construes this term to mean “information
`
`that is provided to enable or to aid in establishing a secure communication
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`channel.” (Paper No. 8 at 9). I disagree with the Board’s interpretation at least
`
`because it refers to a secure communication channel, which is not recited in the
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`claims. Instead, Patent Owner’s construction accurately identifies a “secure
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`communication link,” which is consistent with the claims, which recites
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`“provisioning information for the secure communication link.” (See e.g., Ex. 1003
`
`at 56:26-27.)
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`30. Also, in my opinion, in the context of the ’131 patent, one of ordinary
`
`skill in the art would not understand provisioning information to encompass any
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`and all information that merely “enables or aids in” communication using a secure
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`communication link, as that information may have nothing to do with provisioning.
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`For example, information that simply enabled or aided in communication using a
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`secure communication link would encompass source and destination information
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`for individual packets of data that are traveling over a pre-existing channel. One of
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`ordinary skill in the art would not have understood a channel to be provisioned
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`every time a data packet is sent across it.
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`Case No. IPR2015-00868
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`C.
`31.
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`“Virtual Private Network Link” (Claim 10)
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`I understand that the parties and the Board have put forth the following
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`constructions for purposes of this proceeding:
`
`Patent Owner’s Proposed
`Construction
`A path between two
`devices in a virtual
`private network
`
`Decision’s Construction
`
`No construction proposed
`
`Petitioner’s Proposed
`Construction
`A transmission path
`between two devices that
`restricts access to data,
`addresses, or other
`information on the path,
`generally using obfuscation
`methods to hide
`information on the path,
`including, but not limited
`to, one or more of
`authentication, encryption,
`or address hopping
`
`
`
`32.
`
`I understand that Petitioner construes “virtual private network link” to
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`have essentially the same construction as “secure communication link.” (See Pet.
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`at 12-14, and id. at 15-16.) Petitioner’s construction of “virtual private network
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`link” suffers from many of the same deficiencies as I discuss above with respect to
`
`“secure communication link.” As discussed below, one of ordinary skill in the art
`
`would have understood that a “virtual private network link” (or “VPN link”) in
`
`view of the specification is “a path between two devices in a virtual private
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`network,” where a virtual private network is a network of computers which
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`privately and directly communicate with each other by encrypting traffic on
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`Case No. IPR2015-00868
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`insecure paths between the devices where the communication is both secure and
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`anonymous.
`
`1.
`
`A “Virtual Private Network Link” Requires a Virtual
`Private Network
`
`33. One of ordinary skill in the art would have understood that as
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`explained in the ’131 patent, a VPN link does not exist outside of a virtual private
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`network. First, the claim term “VPN link” expressly requires a “VPN.” The
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`specification is also consistent. For example, the patent explains that when a
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`secure domain name service (SDNS) receives a query for a secure network
`
`address, it “accesses VPN gatekeeper 3314 for establishing a VPN communication
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`link between software module 3309 [at the querying computer 3301] and secure
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`server 3320.” (Ex. 1003 at 51:65-67.) Then, “VPN gatekeeper 3314 provisions
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`computer 3301 and secure web server computer 3320 . . . thereby creating the
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`VPN” between the devices. (Ex. 1003 at 52:1-4.) Secure server 3320 “can only be
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`accessed through a VPN communication link.” (Ex. 1003 at 51:67-52:1.) And
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`“[f]urther communication between computers 3301 and 3320 occurs via the VPN”
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`through the VPN link. (Ex. 1003 at 52:31-33.)
`
`2.
`
`“Authentication” and “Address Hopping” Alone Do Not
`Result in a “Virtual Private Network Link”
`
`34. As I discuss above with respect to “secure communication link,” only
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`encryption actually “restricts access to data, addresses, or other information on the
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`path,” as required by Petitioner’s construction. (See my discussion above
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`regarding secure communication link.) Address hopping and authentication alone
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`do not hide information on the path.
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`A “Virtual Private Network Link” Must Be Direct
`
`3.
`In my opinion, one of skill would have understood that a “virtual
`
`35.
`
`private network communication link” in the context of the ’131 patent describes a
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`“direct” link, as discussed above in Section V.A.2.
`
`A “Virtual Private Network Link” Requires a Network
`
`4.
`36. As I noted above, one of ordinary skill in the art would have
`
`understood that the term “VPN link” must exist in a virtual private “network.”
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`Accordingly, such a link must be between devices in a network. The specification
`
`is consistent with this understanding. For example, in describing a VPN, the ’131
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`patent refers to the “FreeS/WAN” project, which has a glossary of terms. (Ex.
`
`1003 at 40:5 and bibliographic data showing references cited.) The FreeS/WAN
`
`glossary defines a VPN as “a network which can safely be used as if it were
`
`private, even though some of its communication uses insecure connections. All
`
`traffic on those connections is encrypted.” (Ex. 2008 at 24, Glossary for the Linux
`
`FreeS/WAN Project.) According to this glossary, a VPN includes at least the
`
`requirement of a “network of computers.” (Id.)
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`37. The specification describes a VPN as including multiple “nodes.”
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`(See, e.g., Ex. 1003 at 17:36-40, referring to “each node in the network” and
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`“vastly increasing the number of distinctly addressable nodes,” 22:11, “nodes on
`
`the network”; see also id. 19:61-63, 24:59, 25:27-33 (disclosing an arrangement in
`
`which six nodes are “split up into two private virtual networks such that nodes on
`
`one VPN can communicate with only the other two nodes of its own VPN”.) The
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`specification explains that the network allows “[e]ach node . . . to communicate
`
`with other nodes in the network.” (Ex. 1003 at 17:40-42.) So a device within a
`
`VPN is able to communicate with the other devices within that same VPN. In
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`addition, the specification distinguishes point-to-point queries from those carried
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`on a VPN communication link, stating that they occur “without using an
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`administrative VPN communication link.” (See, e.g., Ex. 1003 at 52:12-14, 52:17-
`
`20.)
`
`A “Virtual Private Network Link” Requires Encryption
`
`5.
`In my opinion, one of skill would have understood that a “virtual
`
`38.
`
`private network communication link” in the context of the ’131 patent requires
`
`encryption, as discussed above in Section V.A.3.
`
`39. For instance, the specification’s “TARP” embodiments describe a
`
`“unique two-layer encryption format” where “[e]ach TARP packet’s true
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`destination address is concealed behind a layer of encryption” (first layer) and
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`“[t]he message payload is hidden behind an inner layer of encryption” (second
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`layer). (Ex. 1003 at 3:17-19, 3:36-37, 4:7-9.) In addition, as described above, the
`
`FreeS/WAN glossary of terms in the ’131 patent’s prosecution history explains that
`
`a VPN is “a network which can safely be used as if it were private, even though
`
`some