throbber
UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
`BEFORE THE PATENT TRIAL AND APPEAL BOARD
`
`
`APPLE INC.,
`
`
`
`Petitioner,
`
`
`v.
`
`PERSONALIZED MEDIA COMMUNICATIONS, LLC,
`
`
`
`Patent Owner.
`
`
`
`Inter Partes Review No. IPR2016-00754
`U.S. Patent No. 8,559,635 B1
`
`
`PATENT OWNER’S REQUEST FOR DIRECTOR REVIEW
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`

`

`IPR2016-00754
`U.S. Patent No. 8,559,635 B1
`
`
`TABLE OF CONTENTS
`
`INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................... 1
`
`BACKGROUND ...................................................................................................... 2
`
`ARGUMENT ............................................................................................................ 4
`
`I.
`
`II.
`
`Remand is necessary because the Federal Circuit in PMC ’091
`rejected the Board’s construction of materially identical terms
`in a related patent. ................................................................................ 4
`
`Remand is also warranted because the Board repeatedly refused
`to consider statements made during prosecution that did not rise
`to the level of disclaimer, in conflict with PMC ’091. ......................... 9
`
`III.
`
`PMC’s request must be considered by a principal officer ................. 15
`
`CONCLUSION ....................................................................................................... 15
`
`
`
`
`
`i
`
`

`

`IPR2016-00754
`U.S. Patent No. 8,559,635 B1
`
`
`TABLE OF AUTHORITIES
`
` Page(s)
`
`Cases
`
`Arthrex, Inc. v. Smith & Nephew, Inc.,
`941 F.3d 1320 (Fed. Cir. 2019) ............................................................................ 3
`
`Iancu v. Luoma,
`141 S. Ct. 2845 (2021) .......................................................................................... 4
`
`Personalized Media Communications, LLC v. Apple Inc.,
`952 F.3d 1336 (Fed. Cir. 2020) ...................................................................passim
`
`Proppant Express Invs., LLC v. Oren Techs., LLC,
`IPR2018-00733, Paper 95 (Nov. 18, 2021) ............................................ 2, 4, 5, 15
`
`Teva Pharm. USA, Inc. v. Sandoz, Inc.,
`789 F.3d 1335 (Fed. Cir. 2015) .................................................................... 12, 13
`
`United States v. Arthrex,
`141 S. Ct. 1970 (2021) .......................................................................................... 1
`
`United States v. Eaton,
`169 U.S. 331 (1898) ............................................................................................ 15
`
`
`
`
`
`
`ii
`
`

`

`IPR2016-00754
`U.S. Patent No. 8,559,635 B1
`
`
`INTRODUCTION
`
`Patent Owner Personalized Media Communications, LLC (“PMC”)
`
`respectfully requests the Director’s review of the Board’s final written decision in
`
`this matter, which has been remanded from the Federal Circuit for further
`
`proceedings in light of United States v. Arthrex, 141 S. Ct. 1970 (2021). Vacatur of
`
`the Board’s decision is warranted based on intervening precedent from the Federal
`
`Circuit that is irreconcilable with the Board’s determination.
`
`In Personalized Media Communications, LLC v. Apple Inc., 952 F.3d 1336,
`
`1339 (Fed. Cir. 2020) (“PMC ’091”), the Board had construed the terms “encrypted”
`
`and “decrypted” in U.S. Patent Number 8,191,091 (the ’091 patent) to encompass
`
`non-digital information. The Federal Circuit reversed the Board’s construction
`
`because the Board erroneously failed to consider the applicant’s “repeated and
`
`consistent remarks during prosecution,” which established that “encryption and
`
`decryption require a digital process in the context of the ’091 patent.” Id. at 1345.
`
`The same Board panel in this case construed a closely-related patent: The
`
`patent has the same inventors and the same specification, is part of the same patent
`
`family, and includes many of the same claim terms, including “decrypt.” The
`
`Board’s decision in this case is irreconcilable with the Federal Circuit’s decision in
`
`PMC ’091 in two related ways. First, and most importantly, the Board’s construction
`
`of “decrypt” in this proceeding was identical to its flawed construction of that same
`
`1
`
`

`

`IPR2016-00754
`U.S. Patent No. 8,559,635 B1
`
`term in PMC ’091. Second, the Board in this case failed to consider prosecution
`
`history that is highly relevant to other claim terms, and is just as “decisive” as the
`
`statements at issue in PMC ’091. Id. at 1346.
`
`The Board’s decision is thus irreconcilable with the Federal Circuit’s decision
`
`in PMC ’091. In Proppant Express Invs., LLC v. Oren Techs., LLC, IPR2018-00733,
`
`Paper 95 (Nov. 18, 2021), Director review resulted in a remand to the Board where
`
`the Board’s decision was “substantially similar” to one that the Federal Circuit had
`
`reversed. Id. at 3. The decision in this case is at least as “similar” to the decision at
`
`issue in PMC ’091, and vacatur and remand is similarly warranted.
`
`BACKGROUND
`
`The Board’s final written decision held unpatentable claims 4, 7, 13, 21, and
`
`28-30 of PMC’s U.S. Patent No. 8,559,635 (’635 patent).1 Paper 41, at 72. A central
`
`issue was whether the claim term “decrypt” is limited to all-digital processes. The
`
`Board held that “decrypt” is not so limited, but can also encompass analog
`
`information. Id. at 7-18. The Board’s decision rested on its conclusion that the
`
`prosecution history was not relevant because it did not “reveal a clear disavowal of
`
`claim scope.” Id. at 18. The Board then held that the challenged claims are
`
`unpatentable on anticipation or obviousness grounds.
`
`
`1 The Board initially denied institution on claims 3, 18, 20, 32, and 33 in this
`proceeding, but instituted review of those claims after Apple filed a second petition
`in IPR2016-01520. PMC is also seeking Director review in IPR2016-01520.
`
`2
`
`

`

`IPR2016-00754
`U.S. Patent No. 8,559,635 B1
`
`After the Board denied rehearing, the Federal Circuit decided Arthrex, Inc. v.
`
`Smith & Nephew, Inc., 941 F.3d 1320 (Fed. Cir. 2019), which held that the Board’s
`
`structure violated the Constitution’s Appointments Clause. Id. at 1335, 1338-40.
`
`PMC appealed the final written decision. While PMC’s appeal was pending,
`
`the Federal Circuit decided PMC ’091. That case arose from another of Apple’s IPR
`
`petitions, which was directed to PMC’s ’091 patent. That patent is related to, and
`
`shares the same specification as, the ’635 patent at issue here. The Board issued a
`
`final written decision invalidating the reviewed claims of the ’091 patent. The
`
`Federal Circuit reversed, holding that the Board misconstrued the claim term “an
`
`encrypted digital information transmission including encrypted information”
`
`because PMC’s statements during prosecution made clear that “encryption and
`
`decryption require a digital process in the context of the ’091 patent.” PMC ’091,
`
`952 F.3d at 1345-46.
`
`The court addressed—and rejected—the Board’s conclusion that the
`
`applicant’s prosecution statements are not relevant if they do not “rise to the level of
`
`disclaimer.” Id. at 1345. An applicant’s statement during prosecution “provides
`
`persuasive evidence that informs the meaning of the disputed claim phrase.” Id. The
`
`’091 applicant’s statements were sufficiently clear that they were “decisive” as to
`
`the meaning of encryption and decryption. Id. at 1346. The court reversed the
`
`Board’s decision as to all claims containing that term. Id.
`
`3
`
`

`

`IPR2016-00754
`U.S. Patent No. 8,559,635 B1
`
`On PMC’s motion, the Federal Circuit vacated the Board’s decision, ordered
`
`a new hearing, and added that, “[o]n remand, the Board may also consider this
`
`court’s decision in [PMC ’091].” Fed Cir. No. 20-1197, ECF No. 33 (May 21, 2020).
`
`The Supreme Court then granted the government’s consolidated petition for
`
`certiorari in this case and many others, vacated the Federal Circuit’s decision, and
`
`remanded to the Federal Circuit. Iancu v. Luoma, 141 S. Ct. 2845, 2847 (mem.)
`
`(2021). The Federal Circuit then remanded this case for PMC “to request Director
`
`rehearing of the final written decision[], including arguments concerning [PMC
`
`’091].” Fed Cir. No. 20-1197, ECF No. 40 (Nov. 8, 2021).
`
`ARGUMENT
`
`The Board’s decision is irreconcilable with PMC ’091, and vacatur and
`
`remand are thus necessary. Proppant, IPR2018-00733, Paper 95, at 3. That is true
`
`for two independent reasons. First, the Board’s construction of “decrypt” is
`
`materially identical to the same Board panel’s construction of “decryption” that the
`
`Federal Circuit rejected. And, second, the Federal Circuit’s holding that prosecution
`
`statements need not rise to the level of disclaimer to be relevant to claim construction
`
`fatally undermines the Board’s construction of other key terms.
`
`I.
`
`Remand is necessary because the Federal Circuit in PMC ’091 rejected
`the Board’s construction of materially identical terms in a related patent.
`
`The patent in PMC ’091 was closely related to the patent in this proceeding.
`
`The claim terms at issue in PMC ’091—“encrypt” and “decrypt”—are the same ones
`
`4
`
`

`

`IPR2016-00754
`U.S. Patent No. 8,559,635 B1
`
`at issue in this proceeding. See Paper 41, at 7-18. The same Board panel construed
`
`those terms in a materially identical way in PMC ’091 and this proceeding,
`
`concluding that those terms could cover both digital and analog information. Id. at
`
`27; PMC ’091, 952 F.3d at 1339. The panel’s reasoning was also identical in PMC
`
`’091 and this proceeding, including its rejection of prosecution statements that did
`
`not “rise to the level of disclaimer.” PMC ’091, 952 F.3d at 1345; see Paper 41, at
`
`17-18. The Federal Circuit reversed the Board’s decision in PMC ’091, concluding
`
`that “encrypt” and “decrypt” are limited to digital information based on the
`
`“decisive” nature of statements during the prosecution of the ’091 patent—
`
`statements materially identical to statements made during prosecution of the ’635
`
`patent. PMC ’091, 952 F.3d at 1345-46; see also Ex. 2016, at 1018, 1090, 1156,
`
`1158-59, 1231, 1294, 1330. PMC ’091 thus requires vacatur of the Board decision
`
`here, and a remand for reconsideration. Proppant, IPR2018-00733, Paper 95, at 3.
`
`In PMC ’091, the Board construed the phrase “an encrypted digital
`
`information transmission including encrypted information” in a related PMC patent.
`
`952 F.3d at 1340. In concluding that “encryption” could apply to both digital and
`
`analog information, the Board relied heavily on the fact that encryption could be
`
`applied to “programming,” which can consist of either analog or digital information
`
`(or both). Id. at 1341-42. The Board then refused to meaningfully consider the
`
`applicants’ statements, during prosecution, that encryption was limited to digital
`
`5
`
`

`

`IPR2016-00754
`U.S. Patent No. 8,559,635 B1
`
`information. Id. at 1345. According to the Board, these statements were too
`
`“murky” to rise to the level of disclaimer, and so could be disregarded. Id.
`
`The Federal Circuit reversed. It first rejected the Board’s reliance on the
`
`application of encryption to “programming.” The fact that “‘programming’ can
`
`encompass” both digital and analog transmissions, the court explained, “does not
`
`mean
`
`that ‘decrypting’ or ‘encrypted
`
`information’ encompasses” analog
`
`transmissions. Id. at 1341-42. A reference to encrypted programming can refer to
`
`the type of programming that is, in fact, transmitted digitally.
`
`The Federal Circuit then held that the Board erred in dismissing the
`
`applicant’s statements during prosecution. The court held that “[a]n applicant’s
`
`repeated and consistent remarks during prosecution can define a claim term,” even
`
`if they “were inadequate to give rise to a disclaimer.” Id. at 1346. The ’091 applicant
`
`had “repeatedly and consistently voiced its position that encryption and decryption
`
`require a digital process in the context of the ’091 patent.” Id. at 1345-46. These
`
`statements, the court held, “are decisive” in establishing that “encryption” and
`
`“decryption” require digital, not analog, information in that patent. Id. The court
`
`therefore reversed the Board’s claim construction and related invalidity rulings.
`
`In this case, the Board construed the same terms in the ’635 patent against the
`
`background of a materially identical intrinsic record. And the Board’s decision
`
`rested on exactly the same flawed reasoning that the Federal Circuit rejected in PMC
`
`6
`
`

`

`IPR2016-00754
`U.S. Patent No. 8,559,635 B1
`
`’091. First, the Board relied heavily on the fact that encryption is applied to
`
`“programming,” which can include (but is not limited to) “analog” signals. Paper
`
`41, at 7-8. The Federal Circuit rejected this exact reasoning: Just because
`
`programming can be analog does not mean that the programming being “decrypted”
`
`is analog (as opposed to digital). PMC ’091, 952 F.3d at 1341-42. In addition, the
`
`Board refused to consider the applicant’s prosecution statements. Just as the Board
`
`had dismissed the statements in PMC ’091 as too “murky” to support disclaimer,
`
`952 F.3d at 1345, the Board here dismissed the statements as insufficiently “clear”
`
`to support disclaimer, Paper 41, at 18. This is precisely the “legal analysis and
`
`conclusion” the Federal Circuit rejected in PMC ’091. 952 F.3d at 1345-46.
`
`In fact, the applicant’s statements during prosecution in this case are
`
`materially identical to—and equally “decisive” as—the statements at issue in PMC
`
`’091. 952 F.3d at 1346. In both cases, the statements concerned the applicants’
`
`efforts to avoid or traverse rejections based on prior art that involved hybrid digital
`
`and analog information (as opposed to pure digital information). And in both cases,
`
`the applicants, citing an earlier Board reexamination decision involving a different
`
`PMC patent (the “’536 reexamination”), explained that the reference to encryption
`
`and decryption avoided the prior art by limiting the claims to purely digital
`
`information. See Paper 41, at 15 (discussing PMC’s statements and its reliance on
`
`the ’536 reexamination).
`
`7
`
`

`

`IPR2016-00754
`U.S. Patent No. 8,559,635 B1
`
`Specifically, the applicant in the ’635 prosecution at issue here repeatedly
`
`emphasized that each of the relevant claims “involves the use of digital signals either
`
`through reference to ‘digital’ signals or through reference to ‘encryption’ and
`
`‘decryption,’” terms that “are not broad enough to read on [analog] scrambling and
`
`unscrambling.” Ex. 2016, at 1018 (emphasis added); compare PMC ’091, 952 F.3d
`
`at 1344 (relying on nearly identical statements). After the examiner rejected these
`
`claims based on prior art concerning scrambled analog information, the applicant
`
`again made clear that “encryption requires a digital signal” and “each of the claims
`
`involves the use of digital signals … through reference to ‘decryption’ and
`
`‘encryption.’” Ex. 2016, at 1090; compare PMC ’091, 952 F.3d at 1344 (relying on
`
`nearly identical statements). When the examiner remained unconvinced, the
`
`applicant again distinguished the prior art, which involved analog scrambling,
`
`because it did not involve “encryption,” and “encryption and decryption require a
`
`digital signal.” Ex. 2016, at 1156, 1159. And applicants proposed amendments
`
`intended to “clarify that the information transmission received is an encrypted digital
`
`information transmission”—in contrast to the prior art, which does not “teach the
`
`encryption of an entire digital signal transmission.” Id. at 1158-59; compare PMC
`
`’091, 952 F.3d at 1344-45 (relying on a nearly identical amendment and
`
`accompanying statements). The applicant continued to make similar statements
`
`until the claims were ultimately issued. E.g., Ex. 2016, at 1231 (“encryption and
`
`8
`
`

`

`IPR2016-00754
`U.S. Patent No. 8,559,635 B1
`
`decryption require a digital signal”), 1294 (same), 1330 (same). Thus, just as the
`
`applicant in PMC ’091 “repeatedly and consistently voiced its position that
`
`encryption and decryption require a digital process in the context of the ’091 patent,”
`
`952 F.3d at 1345, the applicant here “repeatedly and consistently” made clear that
`
`encryption and decryption require a digital process in the context of the ’635 patent.
`
`This conflict alone requires remand to the Board. This construction of
`
`“decrypt” was crucial to the Board’s ruling, as is evidenced by the fact that the Board
`
`dedicated a significant portion of its final written decision to this claim construction
`
`issue. Paper 41, at 7-18. For instance, the Board relied heavily on the Aminetzah
`
`reference, which only disclosed analog descrambling, to find claims obvious that
`
`required the encryption or decryption of information. E.g., Id. at 55-62. That was
`
`only possible because the Board “d[id] not construe the claim term ‘decrypting’ in
`
`the ’635 patent to exclude descrambling.” Id. at 55. Remand to the Board is thus
`
`necessary to reevaluate its decision under a proper construction of “decrypt.”
`
`II. Remand is also warranted because the Board repeatedly refused to
`consider statements made during prosecution that did not rise to the
`level of disclaimer, in conflict with PMC ’091.
`
`The Board’s key legal error in PMC ’091 was to disregard statements made
`
`during prosecution that “did not constitute a clear and unmistakable surrender
`
`sufficient to rise to the level of disclaimer.” 952 F.3d at 1345. In this case, the same
`
`Board panel failed to account for crucial statements in prosecution not just in
`
`9
`
`

`

`IPR2016-00754
`U.S. Patent No. 8,559,635 B1
`
`construing “decrypt,” but in construing multiple other terms as well. For this reason,
`
`too, remand to the Board for a decision consistent with PMC ’091 is necessary.
`
`“Executable instructions.” A key dispute before the Board was the meaning
`
`of “executable instructions” in claim 13, which recites “decrypting a second of said
`
`plurality of signals on the basis of said changed decryption technique, wherein said
`
`decrypted second of said plurality of signals is embedded with executable
`
`instructions.” Paper 41, at 32-35 (emphasis added). The Board read “executable
`
`instructions” to include data that, when processed, leads the machine to act in a
`
`certain way; it thus concluded that Guillou disclosed “executable instructions” by
`
`describing “data octets” that, when read by a “character generator,” lead to certain
`
`characters and colors being displayed. Id. at 34-35. PMC, by contrast, had argued
`
`that the data “octets do not control the character generator to carry out operations”
`
`in Guillou. Id. at 34. “[T]he data octets represent information constituting the
`
`service being broadcast,” but fail to constitute “executable instructions” because data
`
`fails to “control[] said controllable device” as required by the claim. Id.
`
`As in PMC ’091, the Board’s construction is irreconcilable with the
`
`prosecution history. The italicized language above was not initially included in
`
`application claim 34, which became claim 13. Ex. 2016, at 1318. The examiner
`
`rejected the claim without that language, based on prior art that disclosed the
`
`transmission of a digital audio signal that would, when received, be played on a
`
`10
`
`

`

`IPR2016-00754
`U.S. Patent No. 8,559,635 B1
`
`speaker. Id. at 1273-74. In response, the applicant added the italicized language.
`
`Id. at 1318. The applicant explained that the new language traversed the prior art
`
`because, in the prior art, “the program audio is an element to be processed, it is not
`
`operable in the controlling of a controllable device.” Id. at 1340. Thus, “[e]ven
`
`though the analog conversion means and the inverse encryption means audio process
`
`the audio signal for its output to a speaker,” that does not make the signal “executable
`
`instructions” as required by the claim. Id. The digital audio signal discussed in the
`
`prosecution history is exactly the same as the “data” at issue in Guillou—it is data
`
`to be read, not instructions for how to execute it. The Board’s construction thus
`
`conflicts with the applicant’s statements during prosecution. Those statements are
`
`as “decisive” as to the meaning of “executable instructions” as the statements at issue
`
`in PMC ’091. 952 F.3d at 1346. Remand is thus warranted for the Board to consider
`
`these statements absent its legally erroneous belief that only statements that rise to
`
`the level of disclaimer are relevant.
`
`“Decryption technique.” Another crucial dispute regarding claim 13
`
`involved the term “decryption technique”—specifically, whether changing a
`
`decryption key qualifies as “changing a decryption technique.” Petitioner argued
`
`that changing the key alone does qualify, and hence that Guillou’s disclosure of
`
`decryption using “a new operating key” discloses the claim limitation. Paper 1, at
`
`11
`
`

`

`IPR2016-00754
`U.S. Patent No. 8,559,635 B1
`
`23-24. The Board’s decision finding claim 13 obvious over Guillou implicitly
`
`accepted Petitioner’s argument. Paper 41, at 32-33.
`
`The applicant’s statements regarding the meaning of “decryption technique”
`
`in related prosecutions decisively refutes the Board’s decision here. See Teva
`
`Pharm. USA, Inc. v. Sandoz, Inc., 789 F.3d 1335, 1343 (Fed. Cir. 2015) (statement
`
`during “prosecution of related patents” is relevant even if it “post-dates the issuance
`
`of the particular patent at issue”). In explaining why the same Guillou reference
`
`does not disclose a “plurality of decryption techniques,” the applicant explained that
`
`“Guillou may change the electronically transmitted ‘key K’ and the physically
`
`delivered key ‘Ci’; however, the steps taken to use these keys never changes.” PAIR,
`
`Application No. 90/014,196 (Aug. 31, 2018, RXOSUB.40, at 36 of 39) (emphasis
`
`added). The examiner relied on that statement to find the claims patentable over
`
`Guillou—and identical or similar statements in four other prosecutions produced the
`
`same result.2 Those statements cannot be reconciled with the Board’s construction,
`
`and remand is warranted on this issue as well.
`
`“Video.” Another key dispute before the Board was whether the term
`
`“encrypted video” in claim 4 encompassed teletext, which, in the context of the
`
`
`2 See Application Nos. 90/014,188 (Patent No. 8,713,624 C1) (Aug. 27, 2018,
`REM, at 2-3 of 6); 90/014,189 (Patent No. 8,587,720 C1) (Aug. 28, 2018,
`RXOSUB.40, at 30, 34 of 38); 90/014,223 (Patent No.8,566,868 C1) (Feb. 22,
`2019, REM, at 3-15 of 59); and 90/014,191 (Patent No. 8,558,950 C1) (Aug. 29,
`2018, RXOSUB.R.40, at 23 of 28).
`
`12
`
`

`

`IPR2016-00754
`U.S. Patent No. 8,559,635 B1
`
`relevant prior art, includes text that may flash and simple, non-moving shapes. Paper
`
`41, at 28-30. That dispute was crucial because the only art that disclosed the
`
`“encrypted video”
`
`limitation—the Guillou
`
`reference—disclosed only
`
`the
`
`transmission of encrypted teletext. Id. The Board ultimately agreed with Petitioner
`
`that, despite lacking any “moving visuals,” teletext constituted “video” based on
`
`Guillou’s characterization of teletext as “Text Video” and Petitioner’s expert’s
`
`statement that teletext is “non-static.” Id. at 29.
`
`The Board’s analysis suffered from the same flaw that doomed its
`
`construction of “decryption”—it prioritized the extrinsic record while failing to
`
`account for the prosecution of the patent at issue. Claim 4 was added as application
`
`claim 25 on April 5, 2011. Ex. 2016, at 1009. That amendment made clear that the
`
`claim was copied, almost verbatim, from a prior application—No. 08/449,263 (the
`
`’263 Application). Id., at 1020, 1022. And that prior application, in turn, makes
`
`crystal clear that the word “video” in the phrase “encrypted video,” in the context of
`
`this patent, requires “full motion video,” not simply changing text. Specifically, the
`
`claim originally required “a portion of a television program.” PAIR, ’263
`
`Application, (Nov. 3, 1995, CLM, at 2 of 17). Then, to traverse the very Guillou
`
`reference at issue here, it was amended to require “full motion video.” PAIR, ’263
`
`Application, (Sept. 22, 1997, CLM, at 4 of 20). And then, when the examiner held
`
`that further amendment was necessary to overcome Guillou, the claim was further
`
`13
`
`

`

`IPR2016-00754
`U.S. Patent No. 8,559,635 B1
`
`amended to require “encrypted video.” PAIR, ’263 Application, (Oct. 2, 2000,
`
`CLM, at 7 of 82). Nothing in the history suggests that the change from “full motion
`
`video” to “encrypted video” was intended to broaden the nature of the “video” at
`
`issue. Indeed, such a broadening would have been absurd: The whole point of the
`
`amendments was to overcome a rejection based on Guillou, yet broadening the claim
`
`to encompass teletext would have created the very problem the amendment sought
`
`to overcome. The proceeding should be remanded for the Board to consider this
`
`prosecution history absent its legally erroneous disclaimer requirement.
`
`“Processor.” Another claim construction dispute concerned the word
`
`“processor” in claims 18 and 21—specifically, whether it means any “device that
`
`operates on data,” as the Board concluded, or only a “device that performs operations
`
`according to instructions,” as PMC argued. Paper 41, at 18. Here, too, the Board’s
`
`construction conflicts with the applicant’s statements during prosecution.
`
`Claim 21 was added as application claim 43. Ex. 2016, at 1014. That
`
`amendment showed that the claim was copied from application claim 111 in the ’263
`
`Application. Id. at 1020, 1026. Statements in the ’263 Application conflict with the
`
`Board’s construction of a “processor.” In response to the examiner’s rejection of
`
`claim 111 as lacking written description support, the applicant provided a chart
`
`“reciting specification support for each claim limitation.” See PAIR, ’263
`
`Application, (Oct. 2, 2000, REM, Appendix A at 129 of 1358). In that chart, the
`
`14
`
`

`

`IPR2016-00754
`U.S. Patent No. 8,559,635 B1
`
`applicant did not suggest that there was support for an interpretation of “processor”
`
`that swept in any device that operates on data—which would sweep in essentially
`
`all electronic circuits that operate in a computer network. Instead, the applicant
`
`disclosed a device, like a signal processor and decrypter, that performs operations
`
`according to instructions. See Id. at 805-809 and 809-816 of 1358.
`
`*
`
`*
`
`*
`
`In sum, given that the Board’s errors in this case—both direct and
`
`methodological—were “substantially similar” to the errors the Federal Circuit
`
`reversed in PMC ’091, the Board’s decision should be vacated and the proceeding
`
`should be remanded. Proppant, IPR2018-00733, Paper 95, at 3.
`
`III. PMC’s request must be considered by a principal officer
`
`The final decision in this IPR must be made by a “principal officer”—a
`
`Senate-confirmed Director. The official currently “performing the functions and
`
`duties” of Director, Mr. Hirshfeld, can begin the Director review process and order
`
`reconsideration by a Board panel. But a denial of relief by Mr. Hirshfeld would not
`
`be a final decision by a principal officer. See United States v. Eaton, 169 U.S. 331,
`
`343 (1898). Mr. Hirshfeld was not named by the President or confirmed by the
`
`Senate to his permanent job or even his temporary leadership role.
`
`CONCLUSION
`
`The Board’s decision should be vacated and remanded for reconsideration.
`
`15
`
`

`

`December 8, 2021
`
`
`IPR2016-00754
`U.S. Patent No. 8,559,635 B1
`
`
`Respectfully submitted.
`
`/Douglas J. Kline/
`Douglas J. Kline (Reg. No. 35,574)
`GOODWIN PROCTER LLP
`100 Northern Avenue
`Boston, MA 02210-1980
`Tel.: (617) 570-1000
`Fax: (617) 523-1231
`dkline@goodwinlaw.com
`
`Counsel for Patent Owner
`
`16
`
`

`

`
`
`
`
`IPR2017-01256
`U.S. Patent No. 9,249,149
`
`
`CERTIFICATE OF COMPLIANCE WITH PAGE LIMITS
`
`I hereby certify that Patent Owner’s Request for Director Review complies
`
`with the page-count limitation of Arthrex Q&As No. A8, because it does not exceed
`
`fifteen pages, excluding the cover page, signature block, and the parts of the
`
`document exempted by 37 C.F.R. § 42.24(a)(1).
`
`
`
`December 8, 2021
`
`
`
`
`Respectfully submitted.
`
`/Douglas J. Kline/
`Douglas J. Kline (Reg. No. 35,574)
`GOODWIN PROCTER LLP
`
`
`
`
`
`

`

`
`
`
`
`IPR2017-01256
`U.S. Patent No. 9,249,149
`
`
`CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
`
`The undersigned hereby certifies that the foregoing document was served
`
`electronically via e-mail on this December 8, 2021, as follows:
`
`Marcus Sernel
`Joel Merkin
`Eugene Goryunov
`Gregory Arovas
`Alan Rabinowitz
`KIRKLAND & ELLIS LLP
`msernel@kirkland.com
`jmerkin@kirkland.com
`egoryunov@kirkland.com
`garovas@kirkland.com
`arabinowitz@kirkland.com
`Apple-PMC-PTAB@kirkland.com
`
`Counsel for Petitioner
`
`
`
`
`
`/Douglas J. Kline/
`Douglas J. Kline (Reg. No. 35,574)
`GOODWIN PROCTER LLP
`
`
`
`

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