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`UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
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`BEFORE THE PATENT TRIAL AND APPEAL BOARD
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`UNIFIED PATENTS INC.,
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`Petitioner
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`- vs. -
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`FALL LINE PATENTS, LLC,
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`Patent Owner
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`———————
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`Case IPR2018-00043
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`U.S. Patent No. 9,454,748
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`DECLARATION OF KEVIN JAKEL
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`1
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`Unified Patents v. Fall Line
`IPR2018-00043
`Unified EX1026
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`I, Kevin Jakel, make the following declaration pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1746:
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`1.
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`I am the Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of Unified Patents,
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`Inc. (“Unified”).
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`2.
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`I provide this Declaration in connection with the above-identified inter
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`partes review proceeding. Unless otherwise stated, the facts stated in this
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`Declaration are based on my personal knowledge.
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`3.
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`Unified endeavors to deter non-practicing entity (NPE) patent litigation
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`by protecting technology sectors that may be impacted by such NPE assertions of
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`poor-quality patents. Companies in a technology sector subscribe to Unified’s
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`technology-specific deterrence. Unified performs many NPE-deterrent activities,
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`including data analytics, prior art searching, prior art contests, validity and
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`patentability analyses, and post-grant review requests. Unified’s members do not
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`pay any fees designated for IPRs. Unified’s members do not pay any fees for IPRs
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`against specific patents. Unified alone determines how to spend its money. Unified
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`independently selects which patents to target based on the perceived deterrent value
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`to a technology zone. Based on its own independent analysis, Unified determines
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`which patents are worth pursuing in terms of filing an IPR or performing some other
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`activity. Unified does not work for members to resolve their litigations. For example,
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`Unified filed this IPR without insight, input, or direction from its members. There
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`are no explicit or implicit agreements with its members that direct or influence
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`Unified to perform any particular deterrent strategy, including filing this IPR.
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`2
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`Unified Patents v. Fall Line
`IPR2018-00043
`Unified EX1026
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`4.
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`Unified is not an extension of any member’s in-house legal team.
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`Unified has no attorney-client relationship, and never has had an attorney-client
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`relationship, with its members. Unified has advertised this lack of an attorney-client
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`relationship publicly on its website for years. https://www.unifiedpatents.com/faq/
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`(“Unified is not a law firm, and does not have an attorney-client relationship with
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`members.”).
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`5.
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`No Unified member made a significant payment shortly before the
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`petition was filed. Many members pay no fee, and paying members pay a yearly
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`subscription that is designated for one or more technology zones, not particular
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`patents or IPRs. The annual fee paid by members is invoiced to each member on a
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`12-month cycle depending on when each member joined Unified. Thus, a member’s
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`payment or non-payment to Unified cannot and does not affect Unified’s ability to
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`file its IPRs independently, and a member’s payment or non-payment to Unified
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`does not influence whether Unified files an IPR challenging a particular patent.
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`6.
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`Unified establishes its Zones, and then members chose to join.
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`Members do not direct or otherwise participate in the establishment of Zones.
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`7.
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`Unified and its members do not share any individuals on their
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`respective boards of directors and have no corporate relationships with its members
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`beyond its membership agreements.
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`8.
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`There was no offer to members or request by them for Unified to reach
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`out to Fall Line Patents, LLC concerning the ʼ748 patent or the district court
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`3
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`Unified Patents v. Fall Line
`IPR2018-00043
`Unified EX1026
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`litigations involving the patent. Unified did not file this IPR for the desire, payment,
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`or benefit of any particular member, or at the behest of any member.
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`9.
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`Unified did not communicate with any member to ascertain their
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`desires and coordinate strategies and it did not take last-minute efforts to avoid an
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`express statement of coordination. Indeed, Unified never communicates with any
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`companies regarding IPR or litigation strategy, and did not do so here.
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`10. Unified never communicates with members regarding whether or not it
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`will file an IPR and did not do so here.
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`11. Unified does not know their members’ litigation strategies, as Unified
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`has no attorney-client relationship or joint defense group with its members and does
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`not coordinate with its members.
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`12. No outside party, including any member, made Unified aware of the
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`’748 Patent, Fall Line, or Fall Line’s patent litigation.
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`13. Unified challenges patents that are asserted in its Zones even when only
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`non-members are involved in litigation and challenges unlitigated patents.
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`4
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`Unified Patents v. Fall Line
`IPR2018-00043
`Unified EX1026
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`14.
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`I declare that all statements made herein of my knowledge are true, and
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`that all statements made on information and belief are believed to be true, and that
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`these statements were made with the knowledge that willful false statements and the
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`like so made are punishable by fine or imprisonment, or both, under Section 1001 of
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`Title 18 of the United States Code.
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`Date: January 31, 2019
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`Respectfully submitted,
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`Kevin Jakel
`CEO Unified Patents, Inc.
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`5
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`Unified Patents v. Fall Line
`IPR2018-00043
`Unified EX1026
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