`___________
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`BEFORE THE PATENT TRIAL AND APPEAL BOARD
`___________
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`HEWLETT PACKARD ENTERPRISE COMPANY,
`Petitioner,
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`v.
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`CHRIMAR SYSTEMS, INC.,
`Patent Owner.
`___________
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`Case No. IPR2019-00032
`Patent No. 8,155,012
`___________
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`PETITIONER’S REPLY TO PATENT OWNER’S
`PRELIMINARY RESPONSE
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`IPR2019-00032
`Petitioner’s Reply to Patent Owner’s Preliminary Response
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`I.
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`Introduction
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`Pursuant to the Board’s e-mail message dated January 23, 2019, Petitioner
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`Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company (“HPE”) submits this reply to Patent Owner
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`ChriMar Systems, Inc. (“ChriMar”)’s preliminary response. ChriMar argues that 35
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`U.S.C. § 315(a)(1) bars HPE’s petition because “the Petitioner filed a civil action
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`challenging the validity of a claim of the ’012 Patent in 2014.”1 POPR at 1. But that
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`action was voluntarily dismissed without prejudice under Federal Rule of Civil
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`Procedure 41(a) before any substantive activity occurred and before HPE filed its
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`IPR petition in this proceeding. Thus, neither § 315(a)(1) nor the Federal Circuit’s
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`decisions addressing § 315(b) bar HPE’s petition.
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`II. Background
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`On January 22, 2014, Hewlett-Packard Company (“HPCo.”) brought a
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`declaratory judgment action against ChriMar in the Eastern District of Michigan.
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`Hewlett-Packard Co. v. ChriMar Sys., Case No. 14-cv-10292, Dkt. No. 1 (E.D.
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`Mich.). On July 20, 2015, HPCo. and Aruba Networks, Inc. (“Aruba”) brought a
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`declaratory judgment action against ChriMar in the same District. Hewlett-Packard
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`1
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`ChriMar’s assertion, that “Petitioner filed a civil action challenging the
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`validity of a claim of the ’012 patent,” is incorrect. HPE has not filed a civil action
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`challenging the validity of any claim of any of ChriMar’s patents.
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`1
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`IPR2019-00032
`Petitioner’s Reply to Patent Owner’s Preliminary Response
`Co., et al. v. ChriMar Sys., Inc., Case No. 2:15-cv-12569, Dkt. No. 1 (E.D. Mich.).
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`Each declaratory judgment complaint included a count of invalidity of the ’012
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`patent’s claims. Before ChriMar filed a response or any substantive action occurred,
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`the district court administratively closed the cases pending resolution of separate
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`patent litigation in the Northern District of California. See Case No. 14-cv-10292 at
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`Dkt. No. 25; Case No. 2:15-cv-12569 at Dkt. No. 13. The cases never re-opened. On
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`February 17, 2018, both cases were voluntarily dismissed without prejudice under
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`Fed. R. Civ. P. 41(a)(1)(A)(i). See Case No. 14-cv-10292 at Dkt. 27; Case No. 2:15-
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`cv-12569 at Dkt. No. 15. On October 4, 2018, HPE filed its petition.
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`III. Section 315(a)(1) does not bar HPE’s petition.
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`By its plain language, § 315(a)(1) does not bar HPE’s petition because the
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`prior declaratory judgment actions were voluntarily dismissed without prejudice
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`under Rule 41(a). See Section III.A, infra. The Click-To-Call and Bennett Regulator
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`decisions do not apply to § 315(a); they apply only to § 315(b). See Section III.B,
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`infra.
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`A.
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`Section 315(a)(1) does not apply because the declaratory judgment
`actions were voluntarily dismissed under Rule 41(a).
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`Section 315(a) bars inter partes review where (1) the petitioner or real party
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`in interest, (2) filed a civil action, (3) challenging the validity of a claim of the patent,
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`(4) before the date on which the petition for review is filed. 35 U.S.C. § 315(a)(1).
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`2
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`IPR2019-00032
`Petitioner’s Reply to Patent Owner’s Preliminary Response
`Section 315(a)’s requirements are not satisfied where the action is later
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`voluntarily dismissed without prejudice because federal courts deem a civil action
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`dismissed without prejudice as “something that de jure never existed.” Holloway v.
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`U.S., 60 Fed. Cl. 254, 261 (2004), aff’d 143 F. App’x 313 (Fed. Cir. 2005); see Beck
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`v. Caterpillar, Inc., 50 F.3d 405, 407 (7th Cir. 1995) (“[Plaintiff’s] suit was dismissed
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`voluntarily pursuant to [Rule] 41(a), and is treated as if it had never been filed.”). In
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`effect, a dismissal without prejudice nullifies the action and returns the parties to the
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`same legal position as if the civil action was never filed. See, e.g., Graves v. Principi,
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`294 F.3d 1350, 1356 (Fed. Cir. 2002) (“The dismissal of an action without prejudice
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`leaves the parties as though the action had never been brought.”); Wright & Miller,
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`Federal Practice and Procedure § 2367, 559 (3d ed. 2008) (collecting cases by all
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`nine Circuit Courts addressing issue). As a result, a dismissal without prejudice
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`preserves a plaintiff’s ability to later sue the same defendant on the same claim. See,
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`e.g., Jet, Inc. v. Sewage Aeration Sys., 223 F.3d 1360, 1364 (Fed. Cir. 2000)
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`(“Dismissal without prejudice indicates that judgment is not on the merits and will
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`have no preclusive effect.”).
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`Here, HPCo. and Aruba brought declaratory judgment actions challenging the
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`validity of the ’012 patent’s claims. But the voluntary dismissals under Rule
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`41(a)(1)(A)(i), before any substantive activity occurred, nullified the actions’
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`existence and left the parties as if the actions had never been brought. Therefore, as
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`3
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`IPR2019-00032
`Petitioner’s Reply to Patent Owner’s Preliminary Response
`a matter of law, no petitioner or real party in interest filed a civil action challenging
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`the validity of the ’012 patent’s claims, and § 315(a)(1) does not apply here.
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`Indeed, given a Rule 41(a) dismissal’s legal effect, the Board has consistently
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`and correctly determined that § 315(a)(1) is not triggered when a declaratory
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`judgment action is voluntarily dismissed without prejudice before the IPR petition
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`is filed. See, e.g., Resmed Ltd. v. Fisher & Paykel Healthcare Ltd., IPR2016-01714,
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`Paper 12 (P.T.A.B. Mar. 10, 2017); Tristar Prods., Inc. v. Choon’s Design, LLC,
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`IPR2015-01883, Paper 6 (P.T.A.B. Mar. 9, 2016); Emerson Elec. Co. v. Sipco, LLC,
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`IPR2015-01579, Paper 7 at 2-3 (P.T.A.B. Jan. 14, 2016) (“Federal courts treat a civil
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`action that is dismissed without prejudice as ‘something that de jure never existed,’
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`‘leav[ing] the parties as though the action had never been brought” and concluding
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`a “previously filed DJ action [including a claim of invalidity] does not bar Petitioner
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`from filing the Petition”). The Board should reach the same conclusion here.
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`B.
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`Click-To-Call and Bennett Regulator are inapplicable.
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`The Federal Circuit’s decisions in Click-To-Call Techs., LP v. Ingenio, Inc.,
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`899 F.3d 1321 (Fed. Cir. 2018), and Bennett Regulator Guards, Inc. v. Atlanta Gas
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`Light Co., 905 F.3d 1311 (Fed. Cir. 2018), do not alter the analysis or warrant
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`departing from this Board’s consistent approach to the issue.
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`As ChriMar recognizes, the Federal Circuit in Click-To-Call addressed the
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`meaning of “served with a complaint” in § 315(b); it did not address any aspect of
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`4
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`IPR2019-00032
`Petitioner’s Reply to Patent Owner’s Preliminary Response
`§ 315(a) at issue here. See POPR at 2. More specifically, the Federal Circuit
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`confirmed that “[t]he ordinary, contemporary, common meaning” of the phrase
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`“served with a complaint” in § 315(b) is “‘presented with a complaint’ or ‘delivered
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`a complaint’ in a manner prescribed by law.” 899 F.3d at 1330. Because the act of
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`serving the complaint triggers § 315(b), the Federal Circuit explained that “it is
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`wholly irrelevant…whether the civil action in which the complaint was filed is later
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`voluntarily dismissed without prejudice.” Id. Thus, “§ 315(b)’s time bar is
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`implicated once a party receives notice through official delivery of a complaint in a
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`civil action, irrespective of subsequent events.” Id.
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`The Federal Circuit in Bennett Regulator likewise limited its analysis to
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`§ 315(b), and the facts differed from Click-To-Call “only in that Bennett’s complaint
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`was involuntarily dismissed without prejudice.” 905 F.3d at 1315 (emphasis in
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`original). The Federal Circuit could “identify no reason to distinguish Click-To-Call
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`on that basis” because “[t]he statutory language clearly ex-presses that service of a
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`complaint starts § 315(b)’s clock.” Id. (emphasis in original). Just as voluntary
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`dismissal could not undo the “service of a complaint” in Click-To-Call, involuntary
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`dismissal could not either. See id.
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`In contrast to Click-To-Call and Bennett Regulator, this case involves
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`§ 315(a)(1) and a voluntary dismissal under Rule 41(a). This distinction is crucial.
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`Section 315(a)(1) is predicated on “fil[ing] a civil action challenging the validity of
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`5
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`IPR2019-00032
`Petitioner’s Reply to Patent Owner’s Preliminary Response
`a claim of the patent,” which materially differs from the operative phrase “served
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`with a complaint” in § 315(b). In particular, although neither a voluntary nor
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`involuntary dismissal could undo the “service of a complaint,” a voluntary dismissal
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`under Rule 41(a) nullifies the “filing of a civil action” as a matter of law.
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`For this same reason, ChriMar’s reliance on the Federal Circuit’s “criticism”
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`of Graves and Bonneville in Click-To-Call is misplaced. POPR at 5. In Click-to-Call,
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`the Federal Circuit recognized that Graves and Bonneville were “inapplicable to the
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`issue presented on appeal,” namely the effect of serving a complaint on § 315(b)’s
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`time bar. 899 F.3d at 1335. The Federal Circuit’s “criticism” of the Board’s reliance
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`on Graves and Bonneville addressed the application of these decisions to service,
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`rather than filing, of a complaint. Id. (“Yet the Board, without explanation, extended
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`the background principle of Graves and Bonneville to conclude that such a dismissal
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`‘nullifies the effect of the service of the complaint.’”). The Federal Circuit did not
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`criticize the undisputed effect of Rule 41(a) as discussed in Bonneville and Graves
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`and as is applicable here.
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`IV. Conclusion
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`The Board should reject ChriMar’s argument and institute an IPR based on
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`the grounds in HPE’s petition.
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`6
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`IPR2019-00032
`Petitioner’s Reply to Patent Owner’s Preliminary Response
`Dated: January 30, 2019
`Respectfully submitted,
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`/Hersh H. Mehta/
`Hersh H. Mehta
`Reg. No. 62,336
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`7
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`Certificate of Service
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`I certify this document was filed via E2E and served on all Patent Owner’s
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`counsel of record via electronic mail as follows:
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`Lead Counsel
`Frank A. Angileri (Reg. No. 36,733)
`BROOKS KUSHMAN P.C.
`1000 Town Center, 22nd Floor
`Southfield, MI 48075
`Telephone (248) 358-4400
`Facsimile (248) 358-3351
`fangileri@brookskushman.com
`CHRMC0122IPR1@brookskushman.com
`
`Back-Up Counsel
`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
`Telephone (248) 358-4400
`Facsimile (248) 358-3351
`tlewry@brookskushman.com
`mlorelli@brookskushman.com
`csmith@brookskushman.com
`
`Dated: January 30, 2019
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`/Hersh H. Mehta/
`Hersh H. Mehta
`
`