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`UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
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`__________________
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`BEFORE THE PATENT TRIAL AND APPEAL BOARD
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`___________________
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`PALO ALTO NETWORKS, INC. and
`BLUE COAT SYSTEM LLC,
`Petitioner,
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`v.
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`FINJAN, INC.,
`Patent Owner.
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`____________________
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`Case IPR2016-001591
`Patent No. 8,677,494
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`__________________________________________________________
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`PATENT OWNER’S REQUEST FOR REHEARING
`PURSUANT TO 37 C.F.R. § 42.71
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`1 Case IPR2016-01174 has been joined with this proceeding.
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`Patent Owner’s Request for Rehearing
`IPR2016-00159 (U.S. Patent No. 8,677,494)
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`I.
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`INTRODUCTION
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`Petitioners failed to disclose an inconsistent opinion from their own expert
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`that directly contradicts the positions they advanced in this matter, thereby
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`misleading the Board and flouting their discovery obligations. As a result, the
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`Board misapprehended the claim language and prior art while invalidating claims
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`1, 2, and 6 of the challenged patent. Specifically, Petitioners argued before this
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`Board that the emulator disclosed in Swimmer saves a list of all operations
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`attempted by a downloadable and therefore meets the definition of “a list of
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`suspicious computer operations.” But just ten days after the Board issued its final
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`written decision, Petitioners served an expert report that repeatedly and
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`unequivocally states that a list of all operations attempted by a downloadable
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`“cannot be a ‘list of suspicious computer operations.’” Indeed, Petitioners’ expert
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`states that a list of operations – including the exact same types of operations that
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`Petitioners argued the Swimmer reference disclosed – could not meet the same
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`claim language. Thus, Petitioners now expressly renounce the very arguments they
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`made before this Board, on which the Board relied to invalidate claims 1, 2, and 6.
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`Good cause exists to consider Petitioners’ conflicting expert report on
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`rehearing. Despite Petitioners’ duty to disclose this evidence during routine
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`discovery, they waited until after the Board issued its final written decision to do
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`so. Consequently, Patent Owner could not have submitted this evidence as part of
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`Patent Owner’s Request for Rehearing
`IPR2016-00159 (U.S. Patent No. 8,677,494)
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`its original response because it was unaware that Petitioners planned to reverse
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`their position. But Petitioners knew all along that their expert would present a
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`contrary opinion in the District Court. And they surely began drafting the highly
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`technical, 217-page report long before the Board issued its final written decision –
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`because they disclosed it just ten days later. In light of Petitioners’ gamesmanship,
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`which also violates their duty of candor when practicing before the U.S.P.T.O., the
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`Board should rehear this matter and consider Petitioners’ inconsistent positions.
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`II.
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`STATEMENT OF REQUESTED RELIEF
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`Patent Owner requests that the Board reverse its original decision on claims
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`1, 2, and 6 (Paper 50) and hold that these claims are patentable.
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`III. BACKGROUND
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`On November 6, 2015, Palo Alto Networks, Inc. filed a petition (the
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`“Petition”) requesting inter partes review of claims 1-18 of U.S. Patent No.
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`8,677,494 (the “‘494 Patent”). On June 10, 2016, Blue Coat Systems, Inc. also
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`filed a petition requesting inter partes review of claims 1-6 and 10-15 of the ‘494
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`Patent, along with a motion to join the petition previously filed by Palo Alto
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`Networks, Inc. The arguments in both petitions filed by Blue Coat Systems, Inc.
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`and Palo Alto Networks, Inc. are identical with regard to Swimmer and claims 1, 2,
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`and 6. On August 12, 2016, Patent Owner Finjan, Inc. (“Patent Owner”) filed a
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`Response to the petition filed by Palo Alto Networks, Inc. On October 4, 2016, the
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`Patent Owner’s Request for Rehearing
`IPR2016-00159 (U.S. Patent No. 8,677,494)
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`Patent Trial and Appeal Board (the “Board”) instituted a trial pursuant to 35 U.S.C.
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`§ 314(a) with respect to claims 1–6 and 10–15 of the ‘494 Patent, and joined the
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`petitions of both Blue Coat Systems, Inc. and Palo Alto Networks, Inc.
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`(collectively, “Petitioners”). Petitioners filed a Reply on November 16, 2016
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`(Paper 26, the “Reply”).
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`After oral argument on February 16, 2017, the Board issued a final written
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`decision on April 11, 2017, invalidating claims 1, 2, and 6 of the ‘494 Patent, but
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`upholding claims 3-5 and 10-15 as valid. Ten days later, on April 21, 2017,
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`Petitioner Blue Coat Systems, Inc. served the Rebuttal Expert Report of Dr. Seth
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`Nielson Regarding Noninfringement (the “Report”) in the underlying action
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`between Patent Owner and Petitioner Blue Coat Systems, Inc. N.D. Cal. Case. No.
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`15-cv-03295-BLF-SVK. The Report directly contradicts Petitioners’ arguments
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`before the Board regarding Swimmer and claims 1, 2, and 6.
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`IV. ARGUMENT
`A. Good Cause Exists to Consider the Nielson Report
`The Board may consider new evidence on a Request for Rehearing where
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`there is good cause to do so. Office Patent Trial Practice Guide, 77 Fed. Reg.
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`48,756, 48,768 (Aug. 14, 2012) (“Evidence not already of record at the time of the
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`decision will not be admitted absent a showing of good cause.”). In Google Inc. v.
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`SimpleAir, Inc., CBM2014-00170, Paper 14 at 3 (P.T.A.B. Feb. 20, 2015), the
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`Board acknowledged that a petitioner may submit new evidence with a Request for
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`Rehearing, but ultimately found no good cause to consider that evidence because
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`the petitioner could have submitted it with its opening brief. “We cannot discern a
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`persuasive reason why Petitioner’s declarant could not have offered this testimony
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`in the original declaration.” Id. at 3.
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`By contrast, here Patent Owner was unable to cite these inconsistent
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`statements in its Response because Petitioners hid them from Patent Owner (and
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`the Board) until ten days after the Board issued its final written decision.
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`Petitioners certainly knew beforehand that their expert would contradict their
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`arguments, as the Report consists of 217 pages of detailed technical analysis and it
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`is unlikely that Petitioners drafted it in those intervening ten days. Further, the
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`Report was offered to rebut Patent Owner’s own expert report on infringement,
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`which Patent Owner served on Petitioners on March 29, 2017, two weeks before
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`the final written decision issued. The Federal Circuit has held that, in patent cases,
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`a showing of “’good cause’ requires a showing of diligence.” 02 Micro Int'l Ltd. v.
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`Monolithic Power Sys., Inc., 467 F.3d 1355, 1366 (Fed. Cir. 2006). Here, Patent
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`Owner was diligent in its discovery and presentation of the evidence. Notably,
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`Patent Owner has always asserted consistent positions between its infringement
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`arguments and its arguments before the Board. But Petitioners were not diligent;
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`they knowingly failed to meet their duty to disclose evidence of an inconsistent
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`position – and their duty of candor – and as a result they impeded Patent Owner’s
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`right to a fair hearing. See Office Patent Trial Practice Guide, 77 Fed. Reg. 48,756,
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`48,761 (Aug. 14, 2012) (holding that parties to an inter partes review have a
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`routine duty of discovery to disclose inconsistent statements);2 BlackBerry Corp. v.
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`Wi-Lan USA Inc., IPR2013-00126 (JL), Paper 15 at 2 (P.T.A.B. Aug. 19, 2013)
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`(holding routine discovery is self-executing and self-enforcing; parties have the
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`burden to produce it).
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`Petitioners’ contradictory statements and lack of disclosure terminated
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`Patent Owner’s rights to enforce claims 1, 2 and 6 of the ‘494 Patent. Petitioners
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`must not be allowed to severely prejudice Patent Owner in this manner through
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`improper acts. Accordingly, good cause exists for the Board to rehear this inter
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`partes review and consider the Report.
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`2 “The following situations exemplify instances where disclosures of inconsistent
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`statements are to be made. Example 1: where a petitioner relies upon an expert
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`affidavit alleging that a method described in a patent cannot be carried out, the
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`petitioner would be required to provide any non-privileged work undertaken by, or
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`on behalf of, the petitioner that is inconsistent with the contentions in the expert’s
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`affidavit.” Office Patent Trial Practice Guide, 77 Fed. Reg. 48,756 at 48,761.
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`B.
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`Patent Owner’s Request for Rehearing
`IPR2016-00159 (U.S. Patent No. 8,677,494)
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`The Nielson Report Denies that Swimmer Disclosed a “List
`of Suspicious Computer Operations”
`1. A list of all operations does not meet the claim language
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`Petitioners’ expert directly contradicts the position that Petitioners asserted
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`throughout this inter partes review, and now candidly admits that a list of all
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`operations performed by a downloadable cannot be considered a “list of suspicious
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`computer operations.” Ex. 2050, Report at ¶ 332. But in both their original
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`Petitions and their Reply, Petitioners argued the exact opposite, stating: “Swimmer
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`identifies a software emulator as an example of an audit system… [that] monitors a
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`program by deriving and recording activity data, including a list of functions” that
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`a downloadable attempts to invoke. Reply at 8. Petitioners claimed that these
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`“audit records ‘represent[] the program behavior in general’” and that “Swimmer’s
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`emulator monitors program activity.” Id. Petitioners also claimed, “Swimmer’s
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`VIDES system uses an emulator to monitor the execution of application programs
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`(Downloadables), generating a stream of ‘activity data’ that can be used to
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`construct rules for detecting computer viruses.” Petition at 44. Moreover,
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`Swimmer itself teaches that an “emulation is a program which accepts the entire
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`instruction set of a processor as input, and interprets the binary code as the original
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`processor would. All other elements of the machine must be implemented or
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`emulated.” Ex. 1006, Swimmer at 8 (emphasis added).
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`Based on Petitioners’ arguments, the Board invalidated claims 1, 2, and 6 of
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`the ‘494 Patent, finding that the “list of suspicious computer operations” disclosed
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`in claim 1 does not require that the list consist only of suspicious operations. In
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`doing so, the Board rejected Patent Owner’s argument that a limitation requiring a
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`“list of suspicious operations” cannot be met simply by listing all operations that a
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`downloadable attempts. Paper 50, Final Written Decision at 30.
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`Less than six months after Petitioners filed their Reply – and just ten days
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`after the Board issued its final written decision – Petitioner Blue Coat Systems,
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`Inc. submitted the Report, which completely reverses its position. The Report
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`contends that a list of all events recorded by an emulator cannot comprise a list of
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`suspicious computer operations. As Dr. Nielson plainly states: “Event data cannot
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`be ‘a list of suspicious computer operations’ – it is a list of all computer operations
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`performed by a sample. Most of these events are not suspicious – in fact, it may be
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`that none are.” Ex. 2050, Report at ¶ 332 (emphasis in original). Thus,
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`Petitioners’ expert concedes that the log of event data described in Swimmer does
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`not teach the “list of suspicious computer operations” limitation.
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`A quick review of the Report’s subject matter emphasizes the conflict
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`between Petitioners’ duplicitous arguments. Petitioner Blue Coat Systems, Inc.
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`sells a product called the Malware Analysis Appliance (MAA). In his Report, Dr.
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`Nielson explains that the MAA performs dynamic analysis through emulation,
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`which allows a downloadable to run while monitoring the events it performs
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`(sometimes called “detonation”). Id. at ¶ 67. “As the sample is running, MAA
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`keeps track of its behavior, called ‘events,’ such as network events and file system
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`events.” Id. at ¶ 328 (emphasis added). These network and file system “events”
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`are then “saved to a disk in a ‘Google Protocol Buffers’ serialization format.” Id.
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`Later, the event logs are matched to analyst-created “patterns” and this pattern-
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`matching renders a risk score between 1 and 10. Id.; see also Ex. 2051 at 64-65,
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`Blue Coat Malware Analysis Appliance 4.2.11 Admin. Guide (discussing pattern
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`matching and risk scores); Ex. 2052 at 4, Blue Coat MAA Datasheet (same).
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`Dr. Nielson argues that the list of captured events (including network and
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`file system events), which MAA generates and “save[s] to a disk in a ‘Google
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`Protocol Buffers’ serialization format” is not a list of suspicious computer
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`operations.” Ex. 2050, Report at ¶¶ 328, 332 (stating the only thing that MAA’s
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`data-stores can store is “a log of all events generated during detonation”). Dr.
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`Nielson states that MAA’s log of events is not a “list of suspicious computer
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`operations.”3 Id. at ¶ 333 (“As stated above, a listing of all events observed during
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`3 It should be noted that Finjan disagrees with Dr. Nielson’s characterization of the
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`operation of MAA and the information that MAA stores. However, Finjan’s
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`disagreement with the operation of the MAA is inconsequential to Dr. Nielson’s
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`IPR2016-00159 (U.S. Patent No. 8,677,494)
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`detonation is not ‘a list of suspicious operations,’ and therefore does not comprise
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`the claimed security profile data.”).
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`2. Petitioners’ expert admits that Swimmer does
`not teach the claim language
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`Even more egregious are the events that Petitioners’ expert identifies in his
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`report as not being suspicious operations even though Petitioners took the exact
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`opposite position during the IPR proceedings. See Reply at 9 (identifying “Open
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`File,” “Close File,” creating a file, modifying a file, write to file operations,
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`making calls to a file system, making calls to a network, and making calls to a
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`memory as examples of events that meet the claim language). Indeed, Dr. Nielson
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`states that MAA logs those same types of events: “As the sample is running, MAA
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`keeps track of its behavior, called ‘events,’ such as network events and file system
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`events.” Ex. 2050, Report at ¶ 328 (emphasis added); id. at ¶ 67 (stating MAA
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`logs “various actions performed both in user programs (such as Adobe) and in the
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`operating system kernel”); see also Ex. 2051 at 28-29, 64-65, Blue Coat Malware
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`Analysis Appliance 4.2.11 Admin. Guide (showing that MAA logs file system
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`events and registry events). But again, Dr. Nielson maintains that MAA does not
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`opinion that an emulator that generates a list of all operations is not a list of
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`suspicious operations, which is directly contrary to Petitioners’ position during the
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`IPR proceedings.
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`Patent Owner’s Request for Rehearing
`IPR2016-00159 (U.S. Patent No. 8,677,494)
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`store a “list of suspicious computer operations,” thereby admitting Swimmer does
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`not teach that limitation in the claim language.
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`C.
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`Petitioners Violated Their Duty of Candor
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`All attorneys have a duty of candor when practicing before the U.S.P.T.O.
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`See 37 C.F.R. § 11.303 - Candor toward the tribunal. Petitioners violated this
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`duty, among others, when they failed to inform the Board of their pending,
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`conflicting Report. The Board cannot condone such actions and should rehear this
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`matter.
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`V. CONCLUSION
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`Throughout these proceedings, and across all actions involving the ‘494
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`Patent, Patent Owner has maintained consistent infringement positions and claim
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`language interpretations. In order to avoid substantial prejudice to Patent Owner as
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`a result of improper gamesmanship by Petitioners, the Board should grant this
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`Request for Rehearing, consider the inconsistent statements in the Report, and
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`validate claims 1, 2, and 6 of the ‘494 Patent.
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`Dated: May 11, 2017
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`(Case No. IPR2016-00159)
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`Patent Owner’s Request for Rehearing
`IPR2016-00159 (U.S. Patent No. 8,677,494)
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`Respectfully submitted,
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`/James Hannah/
`
`James Hannah (Reg. No. 56,369)
`jhannah@kramerlevin.com
`Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP
`990 Marsh Road
`Menlo Park, CA 94025
`Tel: 650.752.1700 Fax: 212.715.8000
`
`Jeffrey H. Price (Reg. No. 69,141)
`jprice@kramerlevin.com
`Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP
`1177 Avenue of the Americas
`New York, NY 10036
`Tel: 212.715.7502 Fax: 212.715.8302
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`Attorneys for Patent Owner
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`IPR2016-00159 (U.S. Patent No. 8,677,494)
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`CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
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`Pursuant to 37 C.F.R. § 42.6(e), the undersigned certifies that a true and
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`correct copy of the foregoing Patent Owner’s Request for Rehearing was served
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`May 11, 2017, by filing this document through the PTAB E2E system as well as
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`delivering via electronic mail upon the following counsel of record for Petitioner:
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`Orion Armon
`Brian Eutermoser
`COOLEY LLP
`380 Interlocken Crescent, Suite 900
`Broomfield, Colorado 80021
`oarmon@cooley.com
`beutermoser@cooley.com
`zpatdcdocketing@cooley.com
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`Max Colice
`COOLEY LLP
`500 Boylston Street, 14th Floor
`Boston, Massachusetts 02116-3736
`mcolice@cooley.com
`zpatdcdocketing@cooley.com
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`Jennifer Volk-Fortier
`COOLEY LLP
`One Freedom Square
`Reston Town Center
`11951 Freedom Drive
`Reston, Virginia 2019
`jvolkfortier@cooley.com
`zpatdcdocketing@cooley.com
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`Patent Owner’s Request for Rehearing
`IPR2016-00159 (U.S. Patent No. 8,677,494)
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`Michael T. Rosato
`Andrew. S. Brown
`WILSON SONSINI GOODRICH & ROSATI
`701 Fifth Avenue, Suite 5100
`Seattle, WA 98104-7036
`mrosato@wsgr.com
`asbrown@wsgr.com
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`Neil N. Desai
`WILSON SONSINI GOODRICH & ROSATI
`633 West Fifth Street, 15th Floor
`Los Angeles, CA 90071-2027
`ndesai@wsgr.com
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` /James Hannah/
`James Hannah (Reg. No. 56,369)
`Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP
`990 Marsh Road,
`Menlo Park, CA 94025
`(650) 752-1700
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