throbber
Paper No. 23
`Filed May 24, 2016
`
`
`
`UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
`
`
`
`BEFORE THE PATENT TRIAL AND APPEAL BOARD
`
`
`
`COSTCO WHOLESALE CORPORATION
`Petitioner,
`
`v.
`
`ROBERT BOSCH LLC,
`Patent Owner,
`
`
`
`Case IPR2016-00042
`Patent 8,544,136
`
`
`
`PETITIONER’S REQUEST FOR REHEARING OF
`DECISION DENYING INSTITUTION OF INTER PARTES REVIEW OF
`U.S. PATENT NO. 8,544,136
`
`

`
`PETITIONER’S REQUEST FOR REHEARING
`IPR2016-00042
`
`
`TABLE OF CONTENTS
`
`Page
`
`TABLE OF AUTHORITIES ...................................................................................... i 
`
`STATEMENT OF RELIEF SOUGHT ...................................................................... 1 
`
`REASONS FOR THE RELIEF REQUESTED ......................................................... 1 
`
`CONCLUSION ........................................................................................................ 13 
`
`CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE .................................................................................. 1 
`
`i
`
`
`
`
`
`

`
`PETITIONER’S REQUEST FOR REHEARING
`IPR2016-00042
`
`
`TABLE OF AUTHORITIES
`
`Page(s)
`
`CASES
`Costco Wholesale Corp. v. Robert Bosch, LLC,
`IPR2016-00039, Paper #19 ................................................................................... 4
`
`Costco Wholesale Corp. v. Robert Bosch, LLC,
`IPR2016-00040, Paper #16 ................................................................................... 4
`
`Costco Wholesale Corp. v. Robert Bosch, LLC,
`IPR2016-00041, Paper #20 ............................................................................... 4, 5
`
`Robert Bosch LLC v. Alberee Products, Inc.,
`No. 12-574 (D. Del.) (the “Delaware Action”) ............................................ 11, 12
`
`STATUTES AND RULES
`
`35 U.S.C. § 103(a) (2006) .................................................................................. 2, 3, 7
`
`Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 37(b)(2) ................................................................ 12
`
`Leahy-Smith America Invents Act,
`Pub. L. No. 112–29, 125 Stat. 284 (2011) .......................................................... 11
`
`
`
`
`
`i
`
`

`
`PETITIONER’S REQUEST FOR REHEARING
`IPR2016-00042
`
`
`Costco Wholesale Corporation (“Petitioner”) respectfully requests rehearing
`
`of the Board’s decision dated April 25, 2016 (Paper No. 22; the “Decision”), which
`
`denied institution of Inter Partes Review of claims 1 and 21 of U.S. Patent No.
`
`8,544,136 (the “’136 Patent”; Exhibit 1001).
`
`STATEMENT OF RELIEF SOUGHT
`
`Petitioner requests that the Board institute Inter Partes review of claims 1
`
`and 21 of the ’136 Patent and consolidate this case for trial with IPR2016-00039,
`
`IPR2016-00040, and IPR2016-00041 (the “Related Cases”).
`
`REASONS FOR THE RELIEF REQUESTED
`
`This case involves a patent that is a direct descendant of the patents involved
`
`in the Related Cases. The challenged claims here are very similar to the claims at
`
`issue in the Related Cases. The prior art combinations asserted here are very simi-
`
`lar to the prior art combinations at issue in the Related Cases. The Scheduling Or-
`
`ders issued in the Related Cases refer to this IPR2016-00042 as if the three cases
`
`(and two other similar cases) were going to be instituted together. And the inter-
`
`ests of justice clearly support having this Board, rather than a lay jury in parallel
`
`litigation, decide the questions of patentability raised here, especially in view of
`
`the close parallel between this case and the Related Cases.
`
`In IPR2016-00039, the Board instituted Inter Partes Review with respect to
`
`six grounds of unpatentability, including claim 1 of U.S. Patent No. 7,228,588 (the
`
`
`
`1
`
`

`
`PETITIONER’S REQUEST FOR REHEARING
`IPR2016-00042
`
`“’588 Patent”; Exhibit 1009 at 1-9) as unpatentable under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a)
`
`(2006) over Merkel (Exhibit 1007) and Prohaska (Exhibit 1003). Claim 1 of the
`
`’588 Patent recites a wiper assembly comprising a flat spring support element and
`
`a hollow wind deflection strip, as do the challenged claims here.
`
`In IPR2016-00040, the Board instituted Inter Partes Review with respect to
`
`six grounds of unpatentability, including claim 1 of U.S. Patent No. 7,484,264 (the
`
`“’264 Patent”; Exhibit 1010 at 1-8) as unpatentable under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a)
`
`(2006) over Merkel (Exhibit 1007) and Prohaska (Exhibit 1003). Claim 1 of the
`
`’264 Patent recites a wiper assembly comprising a flat spring support element and
`
`a hollow wind deflection strip, as do the challenged claims here.
`
`In IPR2016-00041, the Board instituted Inter Partes Review with respect to
`
`four grounds of unpatentability, including claim 1 of U.S. Patent No. 8,099,823
`
`(the “’823 Patent”; Exhibit 1011 at 1-8) as unpatentable under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a)
`
`(2006) over Merkel (Exhibit 1007) and Prohaska (Exhibit 1003). Claim 1 of the
`
`’823 Patent recites a wiper assembly comprising a flat spring support element and
`
`a hollow wind deflection strip, as do the challenged claims here.
`
`The petitions in IPR2016-00039, IPR2016-0040, and IPR2016-0041 are
`
`each supported by the same Declarations of Dr. Eric H. Maslen (“Maslen Decl.”;
`
`Exhibit 1016), and Dr. Gregory W. Davis (“Davis Decl.”; Exhibit 1026) as is the
`
`Petition here.
`
`
`
`2
`
`

`
`PETITIONER’S REQUEST FOR REHEARING
`IPR2016-00042
`
`
`In this IPR2016-00042, Petitioner seeks Inter Partes Review with respect to
`
`six grounds of unpatentability, including claim 21 of the ’136 Patent as unpatenta-
`
`ble under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) (2006) over Merkel (Exhibit 1007) and Lumsden
`
`(Exhibit 1025). See also Pet. at 9-11, 15-16, 18-19. Images of prior art at issue
`
`here and in the Related Cases are reproduced below:
`
`Merkel (Ex. 1007) Figs. 1 and 4
`
` Prohaska (Ex. 1003) Fig. 2
`
`
`
`Lumsden (Ex. 1025) Fig. 1
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`Claims 1 and 21 of the ’136 Patent recite a wiper assembly comprising a flat
`
`spring support element and a hollow wind deflection strip (see Pet. at 4), as does
`
`claim 1 of the ’588 Patent, claim 1 of the ’264 Patent, and claim 1 of the ’823 Pa-
`
`tent. In this case, Petitioner contends, inter alia, that it would have been obvious to
`
`
`
`3
`
`

`
`PETITIONER’S REQUEST FOR REHEARING
`IPR2016-00042
`
`provide the flat spring wiper assembly disclosed in Merkel with the hollow wind
`
`deflection strip disclosed in Lumsden (Pet. at 27-32, 38-45) for substantially the
`
`same reasons that the Board found, in IPR2016-00039, IPR2016-00040, and
`
`IPR2016-00041, that it would have been obvious to provide the flat spring wiper
`
`assembly disclosed in Merkel with the hollow wind deflection strip disclosed in
`
`Prohaska.
`
`In IPR2016-00039, the Board found that the combination of Merkel and
`
`Prohaska would likely result in a wiper assembly that met the claim description,
`
`“an elongated belt-shaped, flexible spring support element (12), on the lower belt
`
`surface (22) of which that faces the windshield is located an elastic rubber wiping
`
`strip 24 . . . .” ’588 Patent col. 7, lines 25-28 (emphasis added).
`
`In IPR2016-00040, the Board also found that the combination of Merkel and
`
`Prohaska would likely result in a wiper assembly that met the claim description,
`
`“an elongated belt-shaped, flexible resilient support element (12) having a longitu-
`
`dinal axis, on the lower belt surface (22) of which that faces the windshield is lo-
`
`cated an elastic rubber wiping strip 24 . . . .” ’264 Patent col. 7, lines 11-14 (em-
`
`phasis added).
`
`In IPR 2016-0041, the Board once again found that the combination of Mer-
`
`kel and Prohaska would likely result in a wiper assembly that met the claim de-
`
`scription, “an elongated belt-shaped, flexible resilient support element (12) having
`
`
`
`4
`
`

`
`PETITIONER’S REQUEST FOR REHEARING
`IPR2016-00042
`
`a longitudinal axis, on a lower belt surface (22) of which that faces the windshield
`
`is located an elastic rubber wiping strip (24) . . . .” ’823 Patent col. 7, lines 3-6
`
`(emphasis added).
`
`In this IPR2016-00042, however, the Board found that the combination of
`
`Merkel and Lumsden likely would not result in a wiper assembly that met the
`
`claim description, “an elongated belt-shaped, flexible resilient support element (12)
`
`having a longitudinal axis, on a lower belt surface (22) of which that faces the
`
`windshield is located an elastic rubber strip (24) . . . .” ’136 Patent col. 7, lines 23-
`
`26. The Board reached this conclusion on the basis that “Lumsden does not appear
`
`to describe the claimed relationship between the lower surface of the support ele-
`
`ment and the wiper.” Decision at 7.
`
`Petitioner respectfully submits that the Board has misapprehended Petition-
`
`er’s stated grounds of unpatentability. Petitioner does not rely on Lumsden to
`
`teach a support element, but rather relies on Lumsden, just as in the Related Cases
`
`it relied on Prohaska, to teach a spoiler that is readily adaptable to support ele-
`
`ments found in prior art flat spring wiper assemblies such as the spring rails 30, 32
`
`disclosed in Merkel as shown above. It is when the spoiler of Lumsden is com-
`
`bined with a prior art flat spring wiper assembly that there results “an elongated
`
`belt-shaped, flexible resilient support element (12) having a longitudinal axis, on a
`
`
`
`5
`
`

`
`PETITIONER’S REQUEST FOR REHEARING
`IPR2016-00042
`
`lower belt surface (22) of which that faces the windshield is located an elastic rub-
`
`ber strip (24) . . . .” ’136 Patent col. 7, lines 23-26.
`
`Thus, the Petition states that “Claim 1 describes a wiper assembly in which a
`
`prior art hollow spoiler (Lumsden) is mounted on a prior art wiper blade (Hoyler)
`
`in conventional fashion. . . .” Pet. at 22. The Petition further states that “[b]y the
`
`priority date of the ’136 Patent, it was known that flexible spring support elements
`
`cause wiper strips to evenly distribute force over a windshield, see, e.g., Appel [Ex.
`
`1005], 1:23-28; Merkel [Ex. 1007], 1:15-18, and spoilers maintain wiper blade
`
`contact pressure at high speeds, see, e.g., Lumsden, 3:3-6 . . . .” Pet. at 38. In both
`
`of these statements, the Petition relies on Lumsden as teaching a spoiler, not a sup-
`
`port element.
`
`The Petition further states that “knowledge of even pressure distribution as-
`
`sociated with spring support elements” would have motivated a person having or-
`
`dinary skill in the art “to clip the spoiler of Lumsden on any wiper blade with a
`
`flat-style support element, such as that disclosed in Hoyler” (Pet. at 39; emphasis
`
`added), and “[c]ombining the hollow spoiler of Lumsden with the spring support
`
`element of Hoyler yields predictable results: a wiper blade that counters liftoff ten-
`
`dency, distributes force evenly over the windshield, weighs less than a wiper blade
`
`with a solid spoiler, and is less stiff than a solid spoiler and thus has less tendency
`
`
`
`6
`
`

`
`PETITIONER’S REQUEST FOR REHEARING
`IPR2016-00042
`
`to prevent the spring support element from remaining in contact with the wind-
`
`shield. Davis Decl. ¶ 55.” Pet. at 39-40.
`
`In the Related Cases, the Board utilized similar reasoning to find that provid-
`
`ing Merkel (Exhibit 1007) with the spoiler of Prohaska (Exhibit 1003) would result
`
`in wiper assembly whose support elements would have a lower belt surface “on”
`
`which was located a rubber wiper strip. The Petition here urges exactly the same
`
`type of combination and rationale, differing only in that Petitioner here relies on
`
`Lumsden for the spoiler element, whereas in the Related Cases Petitioner relies on
`
`Prohaska for the spoiler element.
`
`The Board appears to have misapprehended Petitioner’s position as being to
`
`replace the support elements 60, 62 of Merkel with the reinforcing elements 8, 10
`
`of Lumsden. See Decision at 8 (“Petitioner’s rationale to clip or substitute
`
`Lumsden’s spoiler on Hoyler, Kotlarski ’383, or Merkel’s beam wiper remains in-
`
`congruous with Petitioner’s reliance of Lumsden to teach a support element.”)
`
`(emphasis added). But Petitioner does not rely on Lumsden to teach a “support el-
`
`ement.” Rather, as the Board correctly stated elsewhere in its decision, “Petition-
`
`er’s asserted combinations and rationales involve adding the spoiler of Lumsden to
`
`one or more prior art references . . . .” Decision at 7-8 (emphasis in original).
`
`Throughout the Petition and in the supporting declarations, Petitioner con-
`
`tends that challenged claims 1 and 21 of the ’136 Patent are unpatentable under 35
`
`
`
`7
`
`

`
`PETITIONER’S REQUEST FOR REHEARING
`IPR2016-00042
`
`U.S.C. § 103(a) (2006) because they describe the simple combination of the
`
`Lumsden spoiler and a prior art flat spring wiper blade assembly, the flat springs
`
`comprising the “support element” of the combination. See, e.g., Pet. at 22 (“Claim
`
`1 describes a wiper assembly in which a prior art hollow spoiler (Lumsden) is
`
`mounted in a prior art wiper blade (Hoyler) in conventional fashion . . . .”); id. at
`
`27-28 (“Claim 1 also describes a wiper assembly in which a prior art hollow spoil-
`
`er (Lumsden) is mounted on a prior art wiper blade (Merkel) in conventional fash-
`
`ion . . .”). The Petition’s entire discussion of why it would have been obvious to
`
`make these combinations (Pet. at 38-45; Pet. at 55-56) is similarly focused on
`
`combining the hollow spoiler of Lumsden with a prior art flat spring wiper assem-
`
`bly such as the one disclosed in Merkel. Pet. at 38-41; Pet. at 55-56.
`
`Petitioner acknowledges that the claim charts in the Petition (e.g., Pet. at 23)
`
`could have been clearer in describing what results when “a prior art hollow spoiler
`
`(Lumsden) is mounted on a prior art wiper blade.” Pet. at 22. Petitioner’s claim
`
`charts state that Lumsden discloses “a lower belt surface of reinforcing elements 8,
`
`10 beneath which is located a rubber wiper blade 4 sitting against the windshield.”
`
`E.g., Pet. at 23 (emphasis added). That is an accurate description of Lumsden: the
`
`elements 8, 10 depicted on page 3, above, are indeed reinforcing elements.
`
`But a reinforcing element is not necessarily a support element in the sense of
`
`the ’136 Patent. The specification of the ’136 Patent specifically distinguishes be-
`
`
`
`8
`
`

`
`PETITIONER’S REQUEST FOR REHEARING
`IPR2016-00042
`
`tween a flat spring “support element,” on the one hand, and “the expensive stirrup
`
`design with two flexible rails located in the wiper strip, as is practiced in conven-
`
`tional wiper blades.” ’136 Patent col. 1, lines 39-41 (Exhibit 1001) (emphasis add-
`
`ed); Pet. at 4. The “two flexible rails” referred to here are “reinforcing elements”
`
`in the sense of the Lumsden patent (see, e.g., Maslen Decl. p. 43 [Exhibit 1016]),
`
`but are not “support elements” in the sense of the ’136 Patent.
`
`Petitioner’s claim charts do not refer to the Lumsden structure 8, 10 as “sup-
`
`port” elements, because the Petition relies on Hoyler (Exhibit 1006, Grounds 1 and
`
`4), see Pet. at 22-27, 45-48, Merkel (Exhibit 1007, Grounds 2 and 5), see Pet. at
`
`27-32, 48-52, and Kotlarski ’383 (Exhibit 1004, Grounds 3 and 6), see Pet. at 32-
`
`38, 52-55, as teaching the claimed support elements. Petitioner’s discussion of the
`
`state of the prior art as of the filing date of the ’136 Patent similarly states that
`
`“Merkel describes a wiper blade assembly as comprising a wiper strip (14), a sup-
`
`port element (12) . . . ,” while mentioning Lumsden’s “reinforcement elements (8,
`
`10)” in passing, noting only that they are “conveniently made of steel.” Pet. at 15,
`
`18.
`
`The Board correctly states that “Petitioner’s asserted combinations and ra-
`
`tionales involve adding the spoiler of Lumsden to one or more prior art refer-
`
`ences.” Decision at 7-8 (emphasis in original). That is indeed Petitioner’s position
`
`here, as it is in the Related Cases. And precisely for that reason, the merits of the
`
`
`
`9
`
`

`
`PETITIONER’S REQUEST FOR REHEARING
`IPR2016-00042
`
`Petition are not undermined by the Board’s observation, “Lumsden does not appear
`
`to describe the claimed relationship between the lower surface of the support ele-
`
`ment and the wiper.” Decision at 6; cf. Pet. at 13 (“Hoyler discloses a wiper blade
`
`assembly comprising two longitudinal springs positioned in lateral slots of a wiper
`
`strip.”); Pet. at 40 (“Kotlarski ‘383 and Merkel each disclose a wiper blade having
`
`an elongated spring-elastic support element, a rubber-elastic wiper strip located on
`
`the underside of the support element.”).
`
`The Board stated that “Petitioner merely makes an unsupported attorney ar-
`
`gument” in support of its proposed combinations of the Lumsden hollow spoiler
`
`with prior art flat spring wiper assemblies (Decision at 8), but that is incorrect: the
`
`Declaration of Dr. Davis (Exhibit 1026) fully supports the rationale of proposed
`
`combinations and the position that they render obvious, and unpatentable, at least
`
`some subject matter that challenged claims 1 and 21 of the ’136 Patent describe.
`
`See Pet. at 39 (citing Davis Decl. ¶ 55 as showing the obviousness of replacing
`
`Merkel’s solid spoiler with Lumsden’s hollow spoiler as stated at Pet. 39-39); Pet.
`
`at 44 (citing Davis Decl. ¶ 74 as showing the obviousness of modifying the claws
`
`of Lumsden to grip the upper and lower surfaces of the support elements disclosed
`
`in Merkel and Kotlarski ’383). There is no substantial difference between the obvi-
`
`ousness positions asserted in this case and those relied upon in the Related Cases.
`
`
`
`10
`
`

`
`PETITIONER’S REQUEST FOR REHEARING
`IPR2016-00042
`
`Substantially the same evidence and arguments are made in all of the cases, and the
`
`conclusion here should be the same as in the Related Cases.
`
`Institutional and policy reasons also strongly support rehearing in this case.
`
`A major purpose of the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act, Pub. L. No. 112–29,
`
`125 Stat. 284 (2011), was to improve the adjudication of patentability questions by
`
`having expert administrative bodies, rather than lay juries, decide whether claims
`
`in issued patents satisfied statutory conditions for patentability. Cf. Virtualagility
`
`Inc. v. Salesforce.com, Inc., 759 F.3d 1307 (Fed. Cir. 2015) (reversing denial of
`
`stay pending outcome of PTAB proceeding). The ’136 Patent is being asserted
`
`against petitioner in Robert Bosch LLC v. Alberee Products, Inc., No. 12-574 (D.
`
`Del.) (the “Delaware Action”). Although Petitioner is confident of prevailing in
`
`the Delaware Action, the ability to present an invalidity defense to a jury is not a
`
`substitute for having this expert Board consider the patentability questions that the
`
`Petition raises.
`
`There is also an important consideration of judicial economy that should be
`
`taken into account. As noted above, the challenged claims at issue here are very
`
`similar to the challenged claims as to which the Board has instituted Inter Partes
`
`Review in the Related Cases. The prior art and unpatentability rationales here are
`
`also very similar to the prior art and unpatentability rationales in the Related Cases.
`
`Petitioner and the Patent Owner are going to be briefing and arguing the Related
`
`
`
`11
`
`

`
`PETITIONER’S REQUEST FOR REHEARING
`IPR2016-00042
`
`Cases, involving substantially similar claimed subject matter, references, and ar-
`
`guments, no matter what happens in this case. But if rehearing is not granted, Peti-
`
`tioner and the Patent owner will be substantially duplicating the work that the Re-
`
`lated Cases require by litigating the validity of claims 1 and 21 of the ’136 Patent
`
`in the context of the Delaware Action.1
`
`
`
`
`
`
`1 On March 17, 2016, the District Court hearing the Delaware Action stayed pro-
`
`ceedings pending determination of a motion by Petitioner to dismiss the Second
`
`Amended Complaint in that action as a discovery sanction under Federal Rule of
`
`Civil Procedure 37(b)(2). The Patent Owner has vowed to appeal any discovery
`
`sanction that the Delaware district court may impose, and there is no imminent
`
`prospect of the Delaware Action being finally terminated on grounds that will ren-
`
`der moot the questions of patentability sought to be raised in this case.
`
`
`
`12
`
`

`
`PETITIONER’S REQUEST FOR REHEARING
`IPR2016-00042
`
`
`CONCLUSION
`
`For the reasons set forth above, the Board should grant rehearing, institute
`
`Inter Partes review of claims 1 and 21 of the ’136 Patent, and consolidate this case
`
`for trial with IPR 2016-00039, IPR2016-00040, and IPR2016-00041.
`
`Dated: May 24, 2016
`
`Respectfully submitted,
`
`/James R. Klaiber/
`James R. Klaiber
`Registration No. 41,902
`
`
`
`HUGHES HUBBARD & REED LLP
`One Battery Park Plaza, 17th Floor
`New York, New York 10004
`Telephone: (212) 837-6125
`james.klaiber@hugheshubbard.com
`Attorney for Petitioner
`
`
`
`13
`
`

`
`PETITIONER’S REQUEST FOR REHEARING
`IPR2016-00042
`
`
`CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
`
`I hereby certify that on this 24th day of May, 2016, copies of the foregoing
`
`Request For Rehearing of Decision Denying Institution of Inter Partes Review of
`
`U.S. Patent No. 8,544,136 have been served in their entirety by email on the attor-
`
`neys of record for Patent Owner:
`
` Patrick R. Colsher (patrick.colsher@shearman.com)
`
` Mark A. Hannemann (mark.hannemann@shearman.com)
`
` Enrique W. Iturralde (enrique.iturralde@shearman.com)
`
`
`
`Respectfully submitted,
`
`/James R. Klaiber/
`James R. Klaiber
`Registration No. 41,902
`
`
`
`
`
`1
`
`Dated: May 24, 2016
`
`
`70163594_9

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