IN THE UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
`___________
`
`
`
`BEFORE THE PATENT TRIAL AND APPEAL BOARD
`___________
`
`
`
`HNI CORPORATION and ALLSTEEL INC.
`Petitioners,
`
`v.
`
`DIRTT ENVIRONMENTAL SOLUTIONS LTD.
`Patent Owner.
`
`___________
`
`
`
`Case No. IPR2015-01691
`Patent No. 8,024,901
`Issue Date: September 27, 2011
`
`Title: INTEGRATED RECONFIGURABLE WALL SYSTEM
`
`
`
`DECLARATION OF GEOFF GOSLING
`
`
`
`
`
`
`DIRTT EXHIBIT 2004-1
` IPR2015-01691
`
`
`___________
`
`
`
`BEFORE THE PATENT TRIAL AND APPEAL BOARD
`___________
`
`
`
`HNI CORPORATION and ALLSTEEL INC.
`Petitioners,
`
`v.
`
`DIRTT ENVIRONMENTAL SOLUTIONS LTD.
`Patent Owner.
`
`___________
`
`
`
`Case No. IPR2015-01691
`Patent No. 8,024,901
`Issue Date: September 27, 2011
`
`Title: INTEGRATED RECONFIGURABLE WALL SYSTEM
`
`
`
`DECLARATION OF GEOFF GOSLING
`
`
`
`
`
`
`DIRTT EXHIBIT 2004-1
` IPR2015-01691
`
`
`
`
`
`I, Geoff Gosling, hereby state and declare as follows:
`
`1.
`
`I am the lead inventor of U.S. Patent No. 8,024,901 (“the ’901
`
`patent”).
`
`2.
`
`I understand that the broadest claim of the ’901 patent reads as
`
`follows:
`
`1. A movable reconfigurable wall system comprising:
`
`a) at least one wall module having a front and rear surface and top, bottom,
`
`right side and left side edges, said at least one wall module having:
`
`i) a vertical end frame disposed adjacent to each of said right and left
`
`side edges, each vertical end frame having a first vertically extending
`
`flange and a spaced apart second vertically extending flange thereon,
`
`each of said first vertically extending flange and said second vertically
`
`extending flange having a beaded portion, the beaded portion on one
`
`of said first vertically extending flange or said second vertically
`
`extending flange extending toward the front surface of the wall
`
`module and the beaded portion on the other of said first vertically
`
`extending flange or said second vertically extending flange extending
`
`toward the rear surface of the wall module;
`
`ii) a plurality of horizontal stringers affixed between said vertical end
`
`frames at said right and left side edges; and
`
`-2-
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`DIRTT EXHIBIT 2004-2
` IPR2015-01691
`
`
`
`iii) an aesthetic surface affixed to said stringers; and
`
`b) a removable connecting strip having a pair of spaced apart flexible arms,
`
`each arm having a beaded portion thereon, the beaded portion of one of
`
`said arms being adapted to connect releasably to the beaded portion of
`
`one of said first vertically extending flange or said second vertically
`
`extending flange on said vertical end frame and the beaded portion of the
`
`other of said arms being adapted to connect releasably to the beaded
`
`portion of a corresponding opposed vertically extending flange on a
`
`separate vertical end frame of a second wall module, a wall bracket, a
`
`finishing trim or a connection post to hold one of said first vertically
`
`extending flange or said second vertically extending flange and said
`
`opposed vertically extending flange together, the beaded portions of said
`
`first vertically extending flange or said second vertically extending flange
`
`and said opposed vertically extending flange fitting inside the arms of
`
`said connecting strip to hold said first vertically extending flange or said
`
`second vertically extending flange and said opposed vertically extending
`
`flange together thereby releasably connecting said at least one wall
`
`module to the other of said second wall module, wall bracket, finishing
`
`trim or connection post.
`
`-3-
`
`DIRTT EXHIBIT 2004-3
` IPR2015-01691
`
`
`
`3.
`
`I am currently Vice President of Product Development at DIRTT
`
`Environmental Solutions Ltd. (“DIRTT”) and was one of the founders of DIRTT in
`
`early 2004. Claim 1 of the ’901 patent describes the core of the movable
`
`reconfigurable wall design that DIRTT introduced to the market in 2005 as the
`
`DIRTT Modular Wall System.
`
`4. When DIRTT first introduced the DIRTT Modular Wall System, I
`
`remember several people reacting with varying levels of shock or disbelief because
`
`they could not believe the customization that the DIRTT Modular Wall System
`
`allowed was possible. For example, Danni Livingston was the Facilities Manager
`
`for Johnson County, Kansas, working on finding movable walls for a new Johnson
`
`County Building. Johnson County was looking for walls that could be moved and
`
`whose “skin” could be changed easily so that walls could be repaired and/or the
`
`aesthetics changed over time. But Johnson County was having trouble finding
`
`movable walls that could meet the combination of all of the functional and
`
`aesthetic needs that it had. For example, Johnson County’s Deputy Director of
`
`Facilities had sketched a design with horizontal lines for the moveable wall system,
`
`but Danni had to remind him that in the moveable wall world at that time, all of the
`
`aesthetics were vertical. Johnson County had decided that their need for the
`
`functionality of moveable walls was more important than their aesthetic desires.
`
`But then Danni saw DIRTT’s debut booth at the NeoCon trade show in Chicago in
`
`-4-
`
`DIRTT EXHIBIT 2004-4
` IPR2015-01691
`
`
`
`September 2005, and saw that the DIRTT Modular Wall System, with its use of
`
`horizontal stringers, allowed horizontal aesthetics and had all of the other
`
`functional features that Johnson County wanted. Johnson County decided to drop
`
`the moveable wall manufacturer that they had been pursuing and decided to adopt
`
`the DIRTT Modular Wall System. In 2010, DIRTT produced a video case study
`
`about
`
`the
`
`Johnson County project, which
`
`is currently available at
`
`http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v76bXwwngnE. A transcript of the audio of
`
`this video clip (with selected accompanying screenshots) is submitted with this
`
`declaration as Exhibit 2005. Those images show construction of a number of the
`
`DIRTT Modular Walls at the Johnson County Building as well as a number of the
`
`walls after construction was complete. The end frames, horizontal stringers,
`
`aesthetic surfaces, and connecting strips described in claim 1 of the ’901 patent are
`
`shown in those images.
`
`5.
`
`Because of stories like Johnson County’s, the DIRTT Modular Wall
`
`System was an amazing commercial success. Within about one year after
`
`introduction of the DIRTT Modular Wall System in late 2005, DIRTT was already
`
`generating annual revenue attributable to sales of the DIRTT Modular Wall System
`
`of about $20 million (Canadian). The annual revenue of DIRTT attributable to the
`
`sales of the DIRTT Modular Wall System rapidly rose from about $20 million in
`
`2006 to about $83 million in 2009 (out of total revenue of about $93 million) and
`
`-5-
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`DIRTT EXHIBIT 2004-5
` IPR2015-01691
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`
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`to over $212 million in 2015 (out of total revenue of about $236 million). When
`
`DIRTT started in early 2004, there were only 3 employees. By 2009, DIRTT
`
`employed over 450 people, and by the end of 2015, DIRTT had over 870
`
`employees.
`
`6.
`
`In September 2010, I was awarded the 2010 Manning Innovation
`
`Award, which is a $10,000 award given to recognize and encourage innovation in
`
`Canada, for my role in creating the DIRTT Modular Wall System. The group that
`
`grants the Manning Award maintains a website providing information about the
`
`2010 award, including the criteria that they use to assess who to give the award to,
`
`a “News Release” about the award and the DIRTT Modular Wall System, a
`
`“Media Backgrounder” about DIRTT and the DIRTT Modular Wall System, and a
`
`video clip about DIRTT and the DIRTT Modular Wall System. The page of the
`
`Manning Award website
`
`providing
`
`information
`
`about my
`
`award
`
`(http://www.manningawards.ca/en/awards/winners/2010/geoff-gosling) has been
`
`reproduced and submitted with this declaration as Exhibit 2006. A transcript of a
`
`video clip on that page (along with selected screenshots from the video clip) has
`
`been prepared and submitted with this declaration as Exhibit 2007. These
`
`screenshots show a number of the components used in the DIRTT Modular Wall
`
`System, which are also components described and shown in the ’901 patent. For
`
`example, the screenshots show the end frames, flanges, beaded portions, horizontal
`
`-6-
`
`DIRTT EXHIBIT 2004-6
` IPR2015-01691
`
`
`
`stringers, and aesthetic surfaces described in claim 1 of the ’901 patent, along with
`
`the snap-fit connections used to attach tiles to horizontal stringers. The page of the
`
`Manning Award website providing information about the criteria used to assess to
`
`whom
`
`the
`
`Award
`
`should
`
`be
`
`given
`
`(http://www.manningawards.ca/en/apply/scoring-criteria) has been reproduced and
`
`submitted with this declaration as Exhibit 2008.
`
`7.
`
`In signing this declaration, I understand that the declaration will be
`
`filed as evidence in a contested case before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board of
`
`the United States Patent and Trademark Office. I acknowledge that I may be
`
`subject to cross examination in the case and that cross examination will take place
`
`within the United States. If cross examination is required of me, I will appear for
`
`cross examination within the United States during the time allotted for cross
`
`examination.
`
`8.
`
`I hereby declare under penalty of perjury of the laws of the United
`
`States of America that the foregoing statements are true to the best of my
`
`knowledge; and further that these statements were made with the knowledge that
`
`
`
`
`
`-7-
`
`DIRTT EXHIBIT 2004-7
` IPR2015-01691
`
`
`
`willful false statements and the like so made are punishable by fine or
`
`imprisonment, or both, under Section 1001 of Title 18 of the United States Code
`
`and that such willful false statements may jeopardize the results of these
`
`proceedings.
`
`
`
`Dated: April 28, 2016
`
`
`
`_____________________________
`Signature of Declarant
`Geoff Gosling
`
`-8-
`
`DIRTT EXHIBIT 2004-8
` IPR2015-01691
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