throbber
UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
`______________________
`
`BEFORE THE PATENT TRIAL AND APPEAL BOARD
`___________
`
`SEMICONDUCTOR COMPONENTS INDUSTRIES, LLC
`d/b/a ON SEMICONDUCTOR
`Petitioner,
`
`v.
`
`POWER INTEGRATIONS, INC.,
`Patent Owner.
`___________
`
`Case IPR2016-01600
`Patent 7,834,605 B2
`___________
`
`Record of Oral Hearing
`Held: November 15, 2017
`____________
`
`
`
`Before THOMAS L. GIANNETTI, BRIAN J. McNAMARA, and LYNNE E.
`PETTIGREW, Administrative Patent Judges.
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`

`

`Case IPR2016-01600
`Patent 7,834,605 B2
`
`
`
`
`APPEARANCES:
`
`ON BEHALF OF PETITIONER:
`
`
`NICK SCHUNEMAN, ESQUIRE
`Baker Botts, LLP
`98 San Jacinto Boulevard
`Suite 1500
`Austin, Texas 78701
`
`
`
`ON BEHALF OF PATENT OWNER:
`
`
`NEIL A. WARREN, ESQUIRE
`Fish & Richardson, P.C.
`300 Arguello Street
`Suite 500
`Redwood City, California 94063
`
`
`
`
`
`The above-entitled matter came on for hearing Wednesday, November 15, 2017,
`commencing at 11:17 a.m., at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, 600 Dulany Street,
`Alexandria, Virginia.
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`2
`
`

`

`Case IPR2016-01600
`Patent 7,834,605 B2
`
`
`P R O C E E D I N G S
`- - - - -
`JUDGE McNAMARA: Okay. Welcome back everyone. This is the
`
`oral hearing in case IPR 2016-01600. We will follow the same procedure
`we followed earlier. We'll hear first from the petitioner, then the patent
`owner, then the petitioner can rebut, and the patent owner will have an
`opportunity to rebut after that solely on the motion to amend.
`
`I guess everyone is ready to begin, so let's begin with the petitioner.
`Each party, by the way, has 30 minutes in this case.
`
`Is there some amount the time you would like me to alert you to?
`
`MR. SCHUNEMAN: Yes, Your Honor. I'd like to reserve six
`minutes if I could.
`
`JUDGE McNAMARA: All right. Well, that's a nice precise number.
`
`MR. SCHUNEMAN: When you only have 30 you've got to be
`precise.
`
`JUDGE McNAMARA: Okay. Please begin.
`
`MR. SCHUNEMAN: Good morning, Your Honor. My name is Nick
`Schuneman. I'll be presenting on behalf of petitioner, Semiconductor
`Components Industries, LLC. And on the 1600 IPR, the only remaining
`issue is patent owner's motion to amend. Those substitute claims are
`improper for two reasons. First, as a substantive matter, the substitute
`claims are improper under 316(d) because they add new matter and they
`broaden the claims.
`
`Now, as I'll discuss and as our papers show, there's a bit of a claim
`construction issue regarding the new claim term "first state." However,
`under either possible claim construction of first state, there's at least a new
`
`1
`2
`3
`4
`5
`6
`7
`8
`9
`10
`11
`12
`13
`14
`15
`16
`17
`18
`19
`20
`21
`22
`23
`24
`25
`26
`
`
`
`3
`
`

`

`Case IPR2016-01600
`Patent 7,834,605 B2
`
`matter problem and rejection is proper here.
`
`So, very quickly, as a procedural matter, which I'll discuss at the end
`of my presentation, patent owner presents an unreasonable number of
`substitute claims and is asking the board to amend claims that have already
`been found invalid in a final judgment by the federal circuit.
`
`So very quickly on the procedural history, just a couple points I'd like
`to note. First of all, claims 1 and 2 were found invalid by the Federal Circuit
`in December of 2016. The window for that appeal closed in March of this
`year, and it wasn't until two months after that window for appeal closed and
`that the finding of invalidity became final that patent owner moved to amend
`its claims.
`
`So I'd like to talk about -- moving on to slide 5 -- the substantive
`issues. And as we know, under 316(d)(3), an amendment in IPR may not
`enlarge the scope of the claims or introduce new subject matter. The
`amendments here do both.
`
`On slide 6, substitute claim 13 is shown. I'd like to highlight a couple
`of key limitations added by the patent owner in its amendments. First is
`what I'll call the first and second state limitation. That recites that the
`control signal which controls the switch in the claim has a first state and a
`second state.
`
`Second is what I will refer to as the portion limitation today. That
`recites that the variable current limit threshold increases during at least a
`portion of the first state of a control signal. Now, the portion limitation
`refers back to an original limitation, an original claim 1, which was
`maintained in claim 13, as shown here on slide 6 in blue, which recited that
`the variable current limit threshold increases during the on time of the
`
`1
`2
`3
`4
`5
`6
`7
`8
`9
`10
`11
`12
`13
`14
`15
`16
`17
`18
`19
`20
`21
`22
`23
`24
`25
`26
`
`
`
`4
`
`

`

`Case IPR2016-01600
`Patent 7,834,605 B2
`
`switch. I'll call that during the on time limitation.
`
`So as I mentioned, the construction of first state is a bit of a dispute
`between the parties, although I will note that patent owner's latest reply
`brief, paper 31, did not contest or offer its own construction of first state.
`But if the first state of the control signal occurs during the on time of the
`switch controlled by that control signal, then the portion limitation we just
`discussed is new matter, and it broadens the scope of the claims.
`
`If, however, the first state of the control signal is construed such that it
`need not occur during the on time of the switch controlled by that signal,
`then the other limitation, first state and second state, would be new matter.
`
`So petitioner -- on slide 8, petitioner proposes the following
`constructions -- and we proposed constructions in first state and second state
`which are a bit of a yin and yang to each other. The first state we proposed
`that the state of the control signal cycle -- it's the state of a control signal
`cycle that occurs during and is co-extensive with the on time of the switch.
`In other words, the first state of the control signal happens at the same time
`the switch is on.
`
`And the second state is the opposite. It's the state of the control signal
`cycle that occurs during and is co-extensive with the off time of the switch.
`That construction is the only one even arguably supported by the intrinsic
`record. And I say "even arguably" because the terms "first state" and
`"second state" are new terms that don't appear in the original application,
`and patent owner noted that in its motion to amend.
`
`Rather, patent owner argues that the first state and second state are
`supported by a description in the original application of a switch that turns
`on and off and that is controlled by the control signal. So they argued if the
`
`1
`2
`3
`4
`5
`6
`7
`8
`9
`10
`11
`12
`13
`14
`15
`16
`17
`18
`19
`20
`21
`22
`23
`24
`25
`26
`
`
`
`5
`
`

`

`Case IPR2016-01600
`Patent 7,834,605 B2
`
`switch turns on and off and if the control signal makes the switch go on and
`off, then it must have a first state that makes it go on and a second state that
`makes it go off.
`
`And as shown here on slide 9 is precisely patent owner's argument in
`its motion to amend. From the very outset it referred to the language -- a
`specific element in proposed Claim 13 and said accordingly the first state
`and the second state of the control signal correspond to the on and off times
`of the switch. So from the very get-go patent owner was making this
`position explicit.
`
`In its reply brief -- I won't belabor the point of slide 10 and 11 other
`than to say in its reply, paper 21 reply, patent owner argued basically the
`same argument in a less direct way by walking through the only embodiment
`shown and the spec which corresponds to figures 1 and 2 and arguing that
`the signal output by the latch, which is -- should be on slide 11, the D signal
`output from latch 90, that that signal has a first state that turns the switch on
`and a second state that turns the switch off.
`
`And as you can see on slide 11 there, the D output of the control
`signal ties directly to the gate of the switch. And when that D signal has a
`first state, a high state, or a one or an on state, the switch is on. When the D
`signal has the other state -- an off, a zero -- the switch would be off.
`
`Now, patent owner does argue in paper 21 that the first state of the
`control signal is a different element than the on time of the switch. That
`might be true, but that's not the dispute between the parties. The question is,
`does the first state of the control signal happen at the same time the switch is
`on? Are those two co-extensive? Are they contemporaneous? It's a little bit
`like a light switch for a room. Whether the light switch rocker is pointing up
`
`1
`2
`3
`4
`5
`6
`7
`8
`9
`10
`11
`12
`13
`14
`15
`16
`17
`18
`19
`20
`21
`22
`23
`24
`25
`26
`
`
`
`6
`
`

`

`Case IPR2016-01600
`Patent 7,834,605 B2
`
`or down is different than whether the light is on or off. But when the light
`switch, typically when it's pointing up, the light is on. When it's down, the
`light is off. Same here. When the control signal is in the first state, the
`switch is on.
`
`Now, moving on to slide number 13, under that construction,
`petitioner's construction of first state, the portion limitation adds new matter
`and broadens the claims. I'll walk through each of those. I'll talk about new
`matter first. As we know, new matter is not allowed by 316(d) and the
`Veeam Software case demonstrates that there's a lack of written description
`for an element of the claim. That element is new matter.
`
`So again, on slide 16 I've got substitute Claim 13 here. And what this
`slide shows in red is the portion limitation annotated to reflect the correct
`construction of the first state where the first state occurs during the on time
`of the switch. Under that construction, the portion limitation recites that the
`current limit threshold increases during at least merely a portion of the on
`time of the switch. So it could be less than the full on time of the switch.
`
`However, prior to the amendment, as shown in blue, the original --
`during the on-time limitation, the original claim recited that that threshold
`increased during the on time of the switch, not during a portion of the on
`time of the switch, but during at least a portion.
`
`JUDGE PETTIGREW: Does the increase during the on time of the
`switch mean the entire on time of the switch?
`
`MR. SCHUNEMAN: It does, Your Honor, and I'll walk through why.
`Because in the original application, the '642 application, that was the only
`embodiment taught. And in fact, that application taught that that was one of
`the goals of the invention.
`
`1
`2
`3
`4
`5
`6
`7
`8
`9
`10
`11
`12
`13
`14
`15
`16
`17
`18
`19
`20
`21
`22
`23
`24
`25
`26
`
`
`
`7
`
`

`

`Case IPR2016-01600
`Patent 7,834,605 B2
`
`And so on the original record, a person of ordinary skill in the art
`
`reading that term had absolutely zero reason to believe that the threshold
`could or should increase for anything less than the full on time of the switch.
`
`In fact, I'll turn to slide 17 now which shows some of that original
`disclosure. Figure 2 from 2011 is shown on slide 17. And what is shown
`here is that the current limit 22, which corresponds to the variable current
`limit threshold in the claim increases during the entire time the duty cycle
`max is high. Now, duty cycle max defines the maximum duty cycle. In
`other words, the maximum amount of time that the switch can be on. So
`with the current limit increasing during the entire time the switch can be on,
`it certainly increases during the entire time it is on. We know that because
`as shown on slide 18, patent owner actually annotated figure 2 in its motion
`to amend and noted that the variable current limit threshold as shown there
`below is increasing during the time that patent owner called the maximum
`possible first state. So they've actually highlighted that point for us.
`
`Turning to slide 19 now, the text of the application also uniformly
`teaches and only teaches a single embodiment in which the current limit
`increases throughout the time of the cycle. And I'll highlight these last two
`quotes, the one from page 15, lines 2 to 3 first. It says: "The goal of the
`invention is to generate an intrinsic current limit proportional to the time
`elapsed."
`
`And the last one here says: "It is simply necessary to increase the
`intrinsic current limit as a function of time elapsed during the cycle."
`Simply necessary. It's a goal of the invention.
`
`So not only does the '642 application not only teach a single
`embodiment, it teaches that the aspect we're talking about today, is a goal of
`
`1
`2
`3
`4
`5
`6
`7
`8
`9
`10
`11
`12
`13
`14
`15
`16
`17
`18
`19
`20
`21
`22
`23
`24
`25
`26
`
`
`
`8
`
`

`

`Case IPR2016-01600
`Patent 7,834,605 B2
`
`the invention, that increasing that threshold the entire on time is the goal of
`the invention and it's simply necessary.
`
`And in slide 20 I point out that in its latest paper, paper 31, patent
`owner concedes that's there's only a single embodiment taught in the '642
`application. And that embodiment taught a variable current limit threshold
`that increases during the entire on time of the switch. That's patent owner's
`words in its latest paper here.
`
`Now, faced with this uniform disclosure in the '642 application of a
`threshold that increases during the entire on time of the switch, the patent
`owner in a couple of its papers resorts to arguing that nothing in the patent
`disclaims that a threshold can increase for less than the entire on time of the
`switch, but that's not the correct standard for written description.
`
`Written description doesn't give you credit for all the things you don't
`disclaim. It gives you credit for the things you disclose. And we know that
`from the Lockwood vs American Airlines case, which was cited by the
`Board in Veeam Software. And in that case the Board there rejected a
`motion to amend where the disclosure as a whole was found not to preclude
`the invention recited in the amended claims, but that that was not enough for
`written description because it didn't provide reasonable conveyance of
`possession of the invention. The same is true here.
`
`And I'd like to spend some time on slide 23 by discussing the Veeam
`case because it's instructive for the facts here. In Veeam the original claim
`required restoring a set of files for backup storage. And the patent owner
`amended that claim such that the set of files was a subset of the files that
`were previously backed up. That mirrors exactly what we've got here, where
`the original claim recited the variable current limit threshold increasing for
`
`1
`2
`3
`4
`5
`6
`7
`8
`9
`10
`11
`12
`13
`14
`15
`16
`17
`18
`19
`20
`21
`22
`23
`24
`25
`26
`
`
`
`9
`
`

`

`Case IPR2016-01600
`Patent 7,834,605 B2
`
`the entire on time -- or for the on time which was properly construed as the
`entire on time under the original disclosure. The amended claim added the
`idea that that household can increase for at least merely a portion of the
`entire on time.
`
`In Veeam the Board rejected the subset limitations as new matter. It
`found that the original application did not describe any functions or
`processes that would permit restoring less than all of the backed up files.
`And at most, the disclosure merely did not preclude a system that restores
`less than all of the backed-up files. That wasn't good enough for a
`description. The same is true here. The '642 application doesn't teach a
`circuit or any functions or processes that would allow the threshold to
`increase for less than the full on time of the switch. And patent owner is
`relying on precisely the logic the Board rejected in Veeam arguing the '642
`application doesn't disclaim or doesn't preclude a threshold that would
`increase for less than the full on time. And that's not enough.
`
`JUDGE PETTIGREW: I think patent owner might argue that there's a
`little bit of a distinction between the two cases. Claim 13 recites increasing
`during at least a portion. It doesn't say only a portion. That might be the
`direct analog to the subset.
`
`MR. SCHUNEMAN: That's correct, Your Honor, but in the Veeam
`case the Board explicitly found that the subset limitation meant -- and I'm
`quoting Veeam from paper 48 at 7: "The scope of the phrase 'subset of a
`plurality of files' includes all or less than all of the files."
`
`So that distinction is not actually accurate that the patent owner has
`raised. The subset of and portion of limitations are exactly parallel.
`
`And I'm glad you raised patent owner's arguments because I'd like to
`
`1
`2
`3
`4
`5
`6
`7
`8
`9
`10
`11
`12
`13
`14
`15
`16
`17
`18
`19
`20
`21
`22
`23
`24
`25
`26
`
`
`
`10
`
`

`

`Case IPR2016-01600
`Patent 7,834,605 B2
`
`go through a few of them on slide 24. First, patent owner argues that in
`Veeam the evidentiary posture was different. They are right but not for the
`reason they implied. In this case patent owner's expert has not met the same
`level of specificity that patent owner's expert did in Veeam. In Veeam, the
`patent owner's expert cited to specific sections of the original disclosure and
`argued that those sections taught the new scope, that they taught restoring
`less than all the backed-up files.
`
`In that case the Board went through each of those and found that they
`disagreed with patent owner's expert and found that that was not enough.
`There was no written description. Here patent owner's expert does not go
`through any specific examples and say those disclose a threshold of less than
`the on time of the switch. He says, at most, that the original application
`teaches a threshold that increases for the entire on time of the switch and
`then extrapolates and says therefore it also discloses at least less than the full
`on time as well.
`
`So the evidentiary posture is different. It's less favorable to patent
`owner here. They also argue the legal posture is different and claim that
`Aqua Products has changed and shifted the burden of proof to petitioner.
`That is not true under Aqua Products. In page 21 of the slip opinion of Aqua
`Products the Federal Circuit made clear that the patent owner still bears the
`threshold burden of showing that its claims do not add new matter or
`broaden the scope of the claims. It's less clear who has the burden on claim
`construction, which is why we went through the supplemental briefing
`process. But the Federal Circuit has distinguished between the burden of
`proof for 102/103 patentability and the burden of proof for 316(d)(3).
`
`Third -- this is a very interesting point -- patent owner argues that they
`
`1
`2
`3
`4
`5
`6
`7
`8
`9
`10
`11
`12
`13
`14
`15
`16
`17
`18
`19
`20
`21
`22
`23
`24
`25
`26
`
`
`
`11
`
`

`

`Case IPR2016-01600
`Patent 7,834,605 B2
`
`are not contending that the portion limitation is relevant to distinguishing the
`prior art. In other words, patent owner is admitting that the portion
`limitation is causing all these problems. It's adding new scope. It's
`broadening the claim isn't responsive to an alleged ground of
`unpatentability. That's another reason to reject the motion to amend.
`
`And finally, patent owner argues that the specification discloses
`circuitry that would permit the current limit threshold to increase for less
`than the entire on time because the increase can simply be stopped. Now,
`this is in the reply. I don't have a pinpoint cite for you here, but it is worth
`noting patent owner doesn't cite to a single piece of the evidence for that
`statement, and I'd be interested to hear from patent owner what it thinks in
`the '642 application or in its expert declaration stops the increase in variable
`current limit threshold. The answer is there's nothing there. It's not
`disclosed in the '642 patent, which is why this motion to amend should be
`rejected.
`
`Secondly, under the proper construction of first state, the portion
`limitations also broaden the claims. Shown here on slide 26 is original claim
`1. As we discussed, during the on-time limitation, according to the original
`intrinsic record, the claimed ordinary meaning to one of ordinary skill in the
`art would be that the current threshold increased during the entire on time of
`the switch.
`
`Through the amendment, turning to slide 27, patent owner has
`inserted new intrinsic evidence in the form of a new limitation, the portion
`limitation that has broadened the scope of the term because it refers back to
`the original during the on-time limitation. It says now it's not during the
`entire on time. Now you can really increase for a portion of the on time, less
`
`1
`2
`3
`4
`5
`6
`7
`8
`9
`10
`11
`12
`13
`14
`15
`16
`17
`18
`19
`20
`21
`22
`23
`24
`25
`26
`
`
`
`12
`
`

`

`Case IPR2016-01600
`Patent 7,834,605 B2
`
`than all the on time. That broadens the claims.
`
`JUDGE PETTIGREW: How does that broaden the claims -- how
`does the limitation broaden -- the added limitation broaden the claims if it
`also includes the decreasing during a portion of the second state?
`
`MR. SCHUNEMAN: Because, Your Honor, I think most broadly
`read, the decreasing just requires that the threshold just come back down.
`During the portion limitation requires that the threshold go up, but it can
`plateau under this new amendment. So it can plateau and stop in a
`maximum before the end of the on time. It couldn't do that before the
`amendment.
`
`JUDGE PETTIGREW: Okay. But again, is it also -- the amendment
`also adds this additional decrease in limitation. It arguably narrows the
`claim.
`
`MR. SCHUNEMAN: That is correct. It narrows the claim on another
`axis, if you will. It broadens the claim on the axis of how long the increase
`has to happen. But then it adds a new limitation that actually narrows the
`claim by requiring, now, decrease. So there's both an increase and a
`decrease in the scope here.
`
`JUDGE PETTIGREW: Does that make it an increase in scope?
`
`MR. SCHUNEMAN: It does. As I understand the case law, it does
`mean that this limitation is improper because it broadens on one dimension
`at least.
`
`And we know that limitation is new intrinsic evidence because the
`Federal Circuit has been consistent in stating that claim construction must
`account for the claim as a whole.
`Now, I'll go through patent owner's
`arguments in its reply very quickly. They argue that the broadest reasonable
`
`1
`2
`3
`4
`5
`6
`7
`8
`9
`10
`11
`12
`13
`14
`15
`16
`17
`18
`19
`20
`21
`22
`23
`24
`25
`26
`
`
`
`13
`
`

`

`Case IPR2016-01600
`Patent 7,834,605 B2
`
`interpretation of the original claim would allow that the current limit
`threshold increase during at least a portion of the on time of the switch. That
`might be the broadest interpretation. It is certainly not reasonable because
`there's really no lower bound as to how small that portion may be.
`
`In other words, under patent owner's construction the claim would be
`satisfied by a threshold that increases for a tenth of the on time, a hundredth,
`one one thousandth, one one millionth, all the way down to an arbitrary
`small amount. The only thing excluded would be something that increases
`for zero. And increasing for zero is just the same as saying not ever
`increasing at all.
`
`So what patent owner is doing is reading out the words "increasing
`during the on time of the switch." It's taking out the "during the on time of
`the switch" part and just saying the claim means increasing for any amount.
`
`Second, patent owner argues that petitioner adopted its proposed
`interpretation during prior litigation. That is not true. Petitioner was not
`involved in that litigation and did not take any claim construction positions
`in that litigation.
`
`Third, they argue it's axiomatic that adding a new limitation to a claim
`narrows the claim. There's some confusion there because patent owner is
`using the term limitation to refer to any language added to a claim. But it's
`very possible to add language to a claim that broadens it out. You can have
`a claim that recites a car with four rubber tires and amend that claim to state
`where the tires don't have to be rubber. It's a bit absurd, but it would
`certainly broaden the claim and that's what's happened here. They've added
`new language to the claim, but the portion limitation is just the portion
`language. It's not --
`
`1
`2
`3
`4
`5
`6
`7
`8
`9
`10
`11
`12
`13
`14
`15
`16
`17
`18
`19
`20
`21
`22
`23
`24
`25
`26
`
`
`
`14
`
`

`

`Case IPR2016-01600
`Patent 7,834,605 B2
`
`JUDGE GIANNETTI: The example that you gave was adding a
`
`negative limitation; is that right, Counsel?
`
`MR. SCHUNEMAN: That is true, Your Honor.
`
`JUDGE GIANNETTI: And that's not what happened here, is it?
`
`MR. SCHUNEMAN: Well, what they have said -- well, in a sense it
`is because what they've said is now you can have that threshold increased for
`less than what we previously recited.
`
`JUDGE GIANNETTI: I don't think of that as a negative limitation.
`
`MR. SCHUNEMAN: Maybe the example is not perfect.
`
`JUDGE GIANNETTI: I see your point, but I don't think of it that
`way.
`MR. SCHUNEMAN: You might be right. The example may not be
`
`perfect. That's the danger of using analogies and examples I suppose.
`
`JUDGE GIANNETTI: Be careful with analogies.
`
`MR. SCHUNEMAN: Always a good pointer.
`
`And fourth, they argue that the only evidence regarding the scope and
`broadening of the claim is Dr. Kelley's testimony. That's not correct
`because, as we all know, the most important evidence in determining the
`scope of the claim is the intrinsic record, which is here very clear. Dr.
`Kelley's testimony, although he did testify to its effect, it's extrinsic
`evidence, and not only that, it's widely regarded as the least reliable form of
`extrinsic evidence that can't overcome a clear intrinsic record like we have
`here.
`Next, if the Board doesn't adopt petitioner's construction of first state
`
`and finds that the first state doesn't have to happen when the switch is on,
`then the first state and second state limitation would be new matter.
`
`1
`2
`3
`4
`5
`6
`7
`8
`9
`10
`11
`12
`13
`14
`15
`16
`17
`18
`19
`20
`21
`22
`23
`24
`25
`26
`
`
`
`15
`
`

`

`Case IPR2016-01600
`Patent 7,834,605 B2
`
`Turning to slide 32, if petitioner's proposed construction is not
`
`adopted, what that means is that first state need not coincide or correlate to
`the on time of the switch. The first state and second state that doesn't
`coincide with the on time of the switch would be new matter, because if
`you'll recall, the first state doesn't appear in the original application. The
`only way that patent owner could support those limitations in its motion to
`amend was to say that there's a control signal disclosed in the application
`that controls the switch, and the switch turns on and off.
`
`So necessarily or inherently, that control signal must have a first state
`that turns a switch on and a second state that turns a switch off. If the first
`state no longer has to be the state that corresponds with the switch being on,
`we have no idea what that state would be. We have no guidance from the
`original application, and there's no bound to it. It would be new matter that's
`not disclosed in the '642 application. The only first and second state even
`arguably disclosed by the application are the ones necessary to turn the
`switch on and off.
`
`And finally, I'll quickly address the procedural issues that Claims 1
`and 2 have been found invalid in the final, now on appeal, judgment. The
`Federal Circuit found those claims invalid as anticipated by the major
`reference. The window for further appeal closed March 12th, 2017. Patent
`owner is now pursuing essentially amendments of those invalid claims
`before the Board. That's an end run around this invalidity, this finding of
`invalidity, as a result because they are offering four substitute claims instead
`two and haven't explained special circumstances. It's an end run around this
`Board's procedures.
`
`Unless there are any further questions, I'll reserve the rest of my time.
`
`1
`2
`3
`4
`5
`6
`7
`8
`9
`10
`11
`12
`13
`14
`15
`16
`17
`18
`19
`20
`21
`22
`23
`24
`25
`26
`
`
`
`16
`
`

`

`Case IPR2016-01600
`Patent 7,834,605 B2
`
`JUDGE PETTIGREW: I do have a question about that. Your second
`
`bullet item there. It says: Under PTO procedure. I believe those MPEP
`sections relate to reexaminations.
`
`MR. SCHUNEMAN: They do, Your Honor.
`
`JUDGE PETTIGREW: Why should that necessarily apply in IPRs?
`
`MR. SCHUNEMAN: It doesn't directly apply. It's not controlling
`precedent. We've looked to see if a case or MPEP had ever addressed these
`facts head on and they have not. But the guidance from the MPEP and the
`re-examination process, for example, conducts both of those for
`reexamination as well as the guidance from the court -- the courts on general
`notions of comity between the patent office and the courts all point in the
`same direction, which is that the courts and the Board and patent office
`should respect each other's findings of invalidity.
`
`JUDGE PETTIGREW: I don't think there's much question that we're
`bound by the Federal Circuit about the validity of the claims, Claims 1 and
`2; but what's less clear is why that necessarily means patent owner is not
`entitled to amend those claims.
`
`MR. SCHUNEMAN: The best guidance we could find, Your Honor,
`was the MPEP on reexamination which said once claims are found finally
`invalid by a federal court and the appeals have run, they no longer can be
`considered. They should be withdrawn from consideration. And we think
`that would apply here, too, to respect that final invalidity claim.
`
`JUDGE PETTIGREW: I think the case cited for that is the Ethicon v.
`Quigg case, which says the patent office may terminate or withdraw those
`claims from re-examination. It doesn't mandate that it do so.
`
`MR. SCHUNEMAN: That's correct. And this may be a matter where
`
`1
`2
`3
`4
`5
`6
`7
`8
`9
`10
`11
`12
`13
`14
`15
`16
`17
`18
`19
`20
`21
`22
`23
`24
`25
`26
`
`
`
`17
`
`

`

`Case IPR2016-01600
`Patent 7,834,605 B2
`
`the board has some ability not to withdraw those claims from amendment,
`but we believe that is the proper course here.
`
`Thank you, Your Honors.
`
`JUDGE McNAMARA: All right. Six minutes remaining.
`
`MR. WARREN: May it please the board. Neil Warren --
`
`JUDGE McNAMARA: Would you like to leave a certain amount of
`time?
`MR. WARREN: Yes, Your Honor. I'd like to -- let's hold back five
`
`minutes, please.
`
`There's three issues that were just presented and that are at issue in
`this inter partes review. The first one is the new matter issue, the second is
`the broadening issue, and then the final one that I'll discuss is the procedural
`issue.
`I'm going to start with the new matter issue because I think that's
`
`really where the crux of this proceeding is, and what I heard again and again
`that really the crux of their argument is that the claim before required that
`during the entire on time of the switch, the signal was increasing, the current
`limit threshold was increasing. And now we've limited it to possibly be
`during only a portion of it.
`
`And the purpose here, what we have to look at, is what does the '642
`application teach to a person of ordinary skill in the art? This is not claim
`construction where we're looking at the teachings of the intrinsic evidence
`and where expert testimony is extrinsic evidence. In this portion of the
`analysis, we are actually looking directly at the teachings of the '642
`application to a person of ordinary skill in the art. And as we know from the
`In Re: Wertheim case, which is 541 F.2d 257, in that case they said the
`
`1
`2
`3
`4
`5
`6
`7
`8
`9
`10
`11
`12
`13
`14
`15
`16
`17
`18
`19
`20
`21
`22
`23
`24
`25
`26
`
`
`
`18
`
`

`

`Case IPR2016-01600
`Patent 7,834,605 B2
`
`primary consideration is factual and depends on the nature of the invention
`and amount of knowledge imparted to one of skill in the art from the
`disclosure.
`
`So this is a fact-based determination. It's an evidentiary-based
`determination. And patent owner contends that this issue alone can be
`determined on the factual and evidentiary matters.
`
`In this proceeding the only evidence that exists as to how a person of
`ordinary skill in the art would understand the disclosure of the '642
`application, including taking into consideration those factors that were listed
`-- the amount of knowledge imparted and the types of problems addressed in
`the art -- the only evidence that we have of how a person of skill in the art
`would read this came from Dr. Kelley, patent owner's expert. That's the only
`evidence that exists here.
`
`Dr. Kelley was not cross examined

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