throbber

`
`UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
`__________
`
`BEFORE THE PATENT TRIAL AND APPEAL BOARD
`__________
`
`
`Juniper Networks, Inc., Ruckus Wireless, Inc.,
`Brocade Communication Systems, Inc., and Netgear, Inc.,
`
`Petitioners
`
`v.
`
`Chrimar Systems, Inc.,
`
`Patent Owner
`___________
`
`Case IPR2016-01399
`U.S. Patent No. 8,902,760
`___________
`
`PETITIONER’S BRIEF PURSUANT TO
`ORDER FOR ADDITIONAL BRIEFING REGARDING
`AMENDMENTS MADE DURING EX PARTE REEXAMINATION
`
`
`
`Mail Stop: PATENT BOARD
`Patent Trial and Appeal Board
`U.S. Patent & Trademark Office
`P.O. Box 1450
`Alexandria, VA 22313-1450
`
`10380219
`
`
`
`
`
`
`

`

`IPR2016-01399
`
`
`
`
`
`
` U.S. Patent No. 8,902,760
`
`Pursuant to the Panel’s Order (Paper 65), Petitioners submit this brief
`
`regarding the claims that Patent Owner amended in the ex parte reexamination
`
`during this IPR, i.e., Claim 73 and its dependents 106, 112, 134, 142, and 145.
`
`I.
`
`The Board Should Issue a Final Written Decision as to the Amended
`Claims and Not Terminate this Proceeding as to those Claims
`A longstanding goal of the inter partes review is to improve the PTO’s
`
`procedures to strengthen patent quality. 153 Cong. Rec. E773-775. In line with
`
`this goal, the Board may exercise the Director’s broad authority to determine the
`
`manner in which an IPR may proceed when another proceeding that involves the
`
`same patent is before the Office during the pendency of the IPR (such as the
`
`previously co-pending ex parte reexamination in which the Patent Owner chose to
`
`amend claims that were concurrently at issue in this IPR). 35 U.S.C. § 315(d).
`
`As discussed in detail in Section II of this brief, the only amendment
`
`relevant to this proceeding is that Patent Owner limited the “central network
`
`equipment” of claim 73 to “a BaseT Ethernet hub.” See Ex. 2056, 2. Prior art
`
`“central network equipment” in the form of “a BaseT Ethernet hub” has been the
`
`subject of the parties’ arguments at every stage of this IPR from the Petition
`
`through the Oral Hearing. Under these circumstances, the Board acting on behalf
`
`of the Director should issue a final written decision in this IPR as to the amended
`
`claims because the subject of the claim amendment was addressed in this IPR and
`
`the prior art of record shows the claims are unpatentable under 35 U.S.C. § 103.
`
`10380219
`
`
`- 1 -
`
`
`
`

`

`IPR2016-01399
`
`II. The Patent Owner Has Been on Notice that the Amended Claims Are
`Unpatentable Based on the Prior Art of Record in this IPR
`
` U.S. Patent No. 8,902,760
`
`
`
`
`
`Prior to the amendment, claim 73 recited, in part, “a piece of central network
`
`equipment” and “BaseT Ethernet.” Ex. 1001, cl. 73. To meet these limitations, the
`
`Petitioner relied on, among other things, disclosures of BaseT Ethernet hubs from
`
`both Hunter and the IEEE references in Grounds 1 and 2, respectively. Following
`
`the amendment, claim 73 additionally recites “the piece of central network
`
`equipment is a BaseT Ethernet hub.” Ex. 2056, 2. Because the disclosures of
`
`BaseT Ethernet hubs that were relied on in the Petition also teach this amendment,
`
`claim 73 remains unpatentable. The Patent Owner has been on notice of this
`
`throughout the IPR and the reexamination. The Patent Owner had the opportunity
`
`to and did address this argument and the prior art in its Response, and would not be
`
`denied Due Process if the Board issues a final decision as to the amended claims.
`
`A. Grounds 1 and 2 Teach the Amendment to Claim 73
`In Ground 1, the Petition at pages 26-27 cites to Hunter (Ex. 1003) for its
`
`disclosures of BaseT Ethernet central equipment, including Hunter’s express
`
`disclosure of a “10BaseT hub.” Paper 1 at 27 (quoting Ex. 1003 at 34:18). In
`
`addition, the discussions on pages 8-9, 22-24, 25-26, and 42 of the Petition are
`
`relevant. For example, pages 8-9 cite to Hunter’s disclosures of Ethernet hubs,
`
`including 10Base-T and 100Base-T Ethernet. Pages 22-24 address the
`
`combination of Bulan’s circuitry (Ex. 1004) with the Ethernet hubs taught by
`
`10380219
`
`
`- 2 -
`
`
`
`

`

`IPR2016-01399
`
`Hunter. Pages 25-26 cite Hunter’s repeated disclosures of Base-T Ethernet. And
`
` U.S. Patent No. 8,902,760
`
`
`
`
`
`page 42 explains that claim 73’s limitations are a subset of claim 1, which recites
`
`“a piece of central BaseT Ethernet equipment.” Accordingly, the evidence relied
`
`on for claim 1 also shows claim 73 is unpatentable.
`
`In Ground 2, the Petition at page 55 cites disclosures of BaseT Ethernet hubs
`
`from the IEEE references (Exs. 1006-1008). For example, the IEEE Base-T
`
`Ethernet Standards teach a “10Base-T Repeater,” “100Base-T Repeater,” and
`
`“Multi-Port Bridge.” Paper 1 at 55 (quoting Ex. 1006 at 243, 267; Ex. 1007 at 27;
`
`Ex. 1008 at 303-304). At page 55, the Petition also cite evidence, including figures
`
`29-1 and 29-2 from the IEEE standard, that show a network of “10Base-T
`
`Repeaters,” “100Base-T Repeaters,” and a “Multi-Port Bridge” that physically
`
`connect to multiple DTEs (data terminal equipment, such as PCs). Petition at 55
`
`(citing Ex. 1008 at 303-304). These disclosures teach a “BaseT Ethernet hub”
`
`under its broadest reasonable interpretation. In addition, pages 43-48 and 49-55 of
`
`the Petition are relevant. For example, pages 43-48 discuss the control unit of the
`
`Bloch reference (Ex. 1005) and pages 51-55 discuss combining Bloch’s control
`
`unit with the BaseT Ethernet hubs taught by the IEEE references (Exs. 1006-1008).
`
`Pages 49-51 discuss evidence from the IEEE references teaching Base-T Ethernet.
`
`And page 66 explains that the evidence for claim 1 shows claim 73 is unpatentable.
`
`These pages of the Petition also cite Mr. Crayford who testifies that both
`
`10380219
`
`
`- 3 -
`
`
`
`

`

`IPR2016-01399
`
`Grounds teach central BaseT Ethernet equipment and BaseT Ethernet hubs.
`
` U.S. Patent No. 8,902,760
`
`
`
`
`
`B.
`
`Patent Owner Had the Opportunity to and Did Respond to the
`Evidence Showing the Amendment to Claim 73 Is Unpatentable
`
`For Ground 1, Patent Owner does not dispute that Hunter teaches “a piece of
`
`central network equipment.” In fact, Patent Owner writes “Hunter teaches a
`
`multimedia hub (120 in Figure 1) that uses isoEthernet interfaces.” Paper 26 at 15.
`
`On pages 37-41, 48, and 50-51 of the Response, Patent Owner repeatedly states
`
`that the disclosures in Hunter teach a piece of central network equipment that is a
`
`hub. For example, Patent Owner writes that the “left-hand ‘hub’” in Figure 2 of
`
`Hunter can be in “hub 120 of Figure 1” of Hunter. Response at 39. Patent
`
`Owner’s recreation of Hunter’s Figure 2 is also telling because it labels the central
`
`network equipment of Hunter as a “Hub.” Paper 26 at 37. The only disputed
`
`limitation relevant to the amendment is whether the hub is a BaseT hub. See, e.g.,
`
`Response at 34-35, 40-41, 45-47. But as shown in the Petition and Reply, there is
`
`no merit to this argument because Hunter expressly teaches 10BaseT Ethernet,
`
`100BaseT Ethernet, and a “10Base-t hub.” See, e.g., Petition, 8-9, 25-29; Reply,
`
`11-12. This limitation also was addressed at the Oral Hearing. See, e.g., Record of
`
`Oral Hearing Held August 31, 2017 at 9:20-10:1; 30:17-31:11; 131:8-15.
`
`For Ground 2, Patent Owner does not even dispute the evidence Petitioner
`
`relied on for teaching a piece of central BaseT Ethernet equipment. Indeed, claim
`
`1 recites “a piece of central BaseT Ethernet equipment” and Patent Owner does not
`
`10380219
`
`
`- 4 -
`
`
`
`

`

`IPR2016-01399
`
`dispute that Ground 2 teaches this. As discussed above, the Ground 2 combination
`
` U.S. Patent No. 8,902,760
`
`
`
`
`
`also teaches that the central network equipment is a “BaseT Ethernet hub.”
`
`C.
`
`Patent Owner Would Not Be Denied Due Process If the Board
`Issues a Final Written Decision as to the Amended Claims
`
`As detailed above, the evidence that renders the amendment unpatentable is
`
`expressly addressed in the Petition for Grounds 1 and 2. Patent Owner was able to
`
`and did respond to this evidence in its Response. Accordingly, the parties have
`
`had a sufficient opportunity to address the patentability of the amended claims, and
`
`a final decision on these claims is appropriate and fair under the circumstances.
`
`However, if the Board would like additional briefing on this issue -- beyond
`
`that provided in the Petition, Response, Reply, and at the Oral Hearing -- the Board
`
`can extend the deadline for the final written decision by six months for good cause
`
`and order additional briefing. 35 U.S.C. § 316(a)(11). Good cause is present in
`
`this case because the record shows that the amendment to claim 73, “the piece of
`
`central network equipment is a BaseT Ethernet hub,” is not patentable over
`
`Hunter’s express disclosure of a “10BaseT hub” or over the IEEE Standards that
`
`teach a “10Base-T Repeater,” “100Base-T Repeater,” and “Multi-Port Bridge.”
`
`Moreover, the additional briefing would be consistent with the longstanding goal
`
`of the inter partes review to strengthen patent quality.
`
`Dated: November 7, 2017
`
`
`
`Respectfully submitted,
`By: Talin Gordnia
`Talin Gordnia (Reg. No. 76,214)
`
`10380219
`
`
`- 5 -
`
`
`
`

`

`IPR2016-01399
`
`
`
`
`
`
` U.S. Patent No. 8,902,760
`
`CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
`
`I hereby certify, pursuant to 37 C.F.R. section 42.6 that a complete copy of
`
`
`
`the PETITIONER’S BRIEF PURSUANT TO ORDER FOR ADDITIONAL
`
`BRIEFING REGARDING AMENDMENTS MADE DURING EX PARTE
`
`REEXAMINATION is being served by electronic mail, as agreed to by the
`
`parties, the same day as the filing of the above-identified document in the United
`
`States Patent and Trademark Office/Patent Trial and Appeal Board, upon:
`
`Frank A. Angileri (Reg. No. 36,733)
`Thomas A. Lewry (Reg. No. 30,770)
`Marc Lorelli (Reg. No. 43,759)
`Christopher C. Smith (Reg. No. 59,669)
`BROOKS KUSHMAN P.C.
`1000 Town Center, 22nd Floor
`Southfield, MI 48075
`CHRMC0110IPR1@brookskushman.com
`
`Richard W. Hoffman (Reg. No. 33,711)
`REISING ETHINGTON PC
`755 West Big Beaver Rd., Ste. 1850
`Troy, MI 48084
`Hoffman@reising.com
`
`
`
`November 7, 2017 /Susan M. Langworthy/
`Susan M. Langworthy
`Talin Gordnia (Reg. No. 76,214)
`Michael Fleming (Reg. No. 67,933)
`Jonathan Kagan (Pro Hac Vice)
`IRELL & MANELLA LLP
`1800 Avenue of the Stars, Suite 900
`Los Angeles, California 90067-4276
`Tel.: (310) 277-1010 | Fax: (310) 203-7199
`Attorneys for Petitioner Juniper Networks, Inc.
`
`10380219
`
`
`- 1 -
`
`
`
`

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