`
`BEFORE THE PATENT TRIAL AND APPEAL BOARD
`
`Panasonic Corporation of North America et al.
`Petitioners
`
`v.
`
`Cellspin Soft, Inc.
`Patent Owner
`
`CASE: IPR2019-00131
`Patent No. 9,258,698
`
`PETITIONERS PANASONIC CORPORATION AND PANASONIC
`
`CORPORATION OF NORTH AMERICA’S MOTION TO STRIKE
`
`PURSUANT TO THE DECEMBER 12, 2019 ORDER
`
`
`
`TABLE OF CONTENTS
`
`Page
`
`B.
`
`C.
`
`Introduction ..................................................................................................... 1
`I.
`II. Argument ........................................................................................................ 2
`A.
`The Untimely Evidence Violates the PTAB’s Consolidated
`Trial Practice Guide’s Prohibition Against Including New
`Evidence with a Sur-Reply ................................................................... 2
`If Not Stricken, the Untimely Evidence Would Prejudice
`Panasonic and Violate Panasonic’s Due Process Rights ..................... 4
`Cellspin Cannot Justify the Belated Submission of the Untimely
`Evidence ............................................................................................... 8
`Cellspin’s Sur-Reply Attempts to Circumvent the Word Count
`Limit with Improper Spacing Throughout the Brief .......................... 10
`Granting this Motion is the Proper Remedy for Cellspin’s
`Violations ........................................................................................... 12
`III. Conclusion .................................................................................................... 13
`
`D.
`
`E.
`
`i
`
`
`
`TABLE OF AUTHORITIES
`
` Page(s)
`
`Cases
`Abbott Labs. v. Cordis Corp.,
`710 F.3d 1318 (Fed. Cir. 2013) ............................................................................ 7
`Dell Inc. v. Acceleron, LLC,
`818 F.3d 1293 (Fed. Cir. 2016) ............................................................................ 8
`Genzyme Therapeutic Prods. Ltd. P’Ship v. Biomarin Pharm. Inc.,
`825 F.3d 1360 (Fed. Cir. 2016) ............................................................................ 7
`Mallinckrodt Pharm. Ir. Ltd. v. Biovie, Inc.,
`IPR2018-00974, Paper 34 (PTAB Nov. 13, 2019) ......................................... 3, 12
`N. Am. Coal Co. v. Miller,
`870 F.2d 948 (3d Cir. 1989) ................................................................................. 8
`Navistar, Inc. v. Fatigue Fracture Tech., LLC,
`IPR2018-00853, 2019 WL 4126205 (PTAB Aug. 29, 2019) ......................... 4, 12
`Pi-Net Int’l, Inc. v. JPMorgan Chase & Co.,
`600 F. App’x 774 (Fed. Cir. 2015) ..................................................................... 11
`Snap-On Inc. v. Milwaukee Elec. Tool Corp.,
`IPR2015-01242, 2016 WL 8944781 (PTAB Aug. 19, 2016) ............................. 11
`Trane U.S. Inc. v. SEMCO, LLC,
`IPR2018-00514, 2019 WL 1757866 (PTAB Apr. 17, 2019) ............................... 4
`Yeda Res. v. Mylan Pharm. Inc.,
`906 F.3d 1031 (Fed. Cir. 2018) ............................................................................ 7
`Statutes
`5 U.S.C. §§ 554(b)-(c), .............................................................................................. 7
`5 U.S.C. §§ 556(d) ..................................................................................................... 7
`5 U.S.C. §§ 557(c) ..................................................................................................... 7
`
`ii
`
`
`
`Administrative Procedure Act .......................................................................... 1, 7, 12
`Other Authorities
`37 C.F.R. § 42.6(a)(2)(ii) ......................................................................................... 11
`37 C.F.R. § 42.24(c) ................................................................................................. 10
`
`iii
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`
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`Case No. IPR2019-00131
`Patent No. 9,258,698
`I.
`Introduction
`Petitioners Panasonic Corporation and Panasonic Corporation of North
`
`America (“Panasonic”) move to strike Exhibits 2026-2029 and 2031-2033 (the
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`“Untimely Evidence”), which Patent Owner Cellspin Soft, Inc. (“Cellspin”)
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`belatedly submitted with its sur-reply. Panasonic further moves to strike Cellspin’s
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`sur-reply (Paper 30), or alternatively, for the Board to accord no weight to the
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`arguments in the sur-reply based on the Untimely Evidence.
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`This case is exceptional. Cellspin violated the Board’s Trial Practice Guide
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`by submitting extensive new testimonial and documentary evidence with its sur-
`
`reply. Cellspin’s actions were neither authorized ahead of time nor can they be
`
`justified post hoc. If left in the record, the Untimely Evidence would unfairly
`
`prejudice Panasonic and violate the Administrative Procedure Act and its
`
`guarantees of due process. Left unchecked, Cellspin’s actions also would set a bad
`
`precedent, emboldening patent owners to submit unauthorized sur-reply evidence
`
`in other proceedings.
`
`Cellspin also tried to game the word count limit by deleting spaces in
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`citations in a way that cannot be justified. This is another basis for striking the sur-
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`reply, particularly given Cellspin’s other failures to follow applicable rules.
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`1
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`Case No. IPR2019-00131
`Patent No. 9,258,698
`Cellspin’s failure to follow and twisting of applicable rules justify the
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`exceptional remedy of striking at least the Untimely Evidence, and the sur-reply as
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`well in the Board’s discretion.
`
`II.
`
`Argument
`A.
`The Untimely Evidence Violates the Trial Practice Guide’s
`Prohibition Against Including New Evidence with a Sur-Reply.
`The Board’s Trial Practice Guide sets forth “standard practices before the
`
`Board during AIA trial proceedings” based upon the Board’s trial rules. Patent
`
`Trial and Appeals Board Consolidated Trial Practice Guide, November 2019
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`(“Practice Guide”) at 1. These standard practices “includ[e] the structure and times
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`for taking action in each of the AIA proceedings,” to “encourage[] consistency of
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`procedures among panels of the Board.” Id. at 1, 3. “[A]bsent special
`
`circumstances, discovery will proceed in a sequenced fashion” as set forth in the
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`Practice Guide. Id. at 7-8.
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`In particular, the Practice Guide explains the proper procedure for Patent
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`Owner sur-replies and discovery. The Practice Guide is clear: “The sur-reply may
`
`not be accompanied by new evidence other than deposition transcripts of the cross-
`
`examination of any reply witness.” Id. at 73 (emphasis added). Accordingly,
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`pursuant to the Board’s standard practices and procedures, Cellspin plainly was not
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`permitted to introduce new evidence with its sur-reply.
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`2
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`Case No. IPR2019-00131
`Patent No. 9,258,698
`Cellspin violated the Practice Guide by submitting the Untimely Evidence.
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`The Untimely Evidence consists of extensive new testimonial and documentary
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`evidence, namely:
`
`•
`
`•
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`a new, 56-page-long declaration from Cellspin’s expert witness
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`(Ex. 2026); and
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`six other new documents spanning over 300 pages, including a
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`published patent application, website printouts, and two technical
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`specifications. (Exs. 2027-2029 and 2031-2033).1
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`Cellspin did not seek, and the Board did not grant, prior authorization to
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`deviate from the Practice Guide and file the Untimely Evidence. For this reason
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`alone, these materials should be stricken. The Board has granted motions to strike
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`exhibits filed with a sur-reply and portions of the sur-reply relying upon such
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`exhibits, finding that they constitute improper new evidence. See Mallinckrodt
`
`Pharm. Ir. Ltd. v. Biovie, Inc., IPR2018-00974, Paper 34 at 8-9 (PTAB Nov. 13,
`
`1 Cellspin also submitted with its sur-reply Exhibit 2030, the transcript of the
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`deposition Cellspin took of Panasonic’s expert witness on June 13, 2019. Cellspin
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`cited to this transcript in its patent owner response (e.g., Paper 19 at 24) but did not
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`previously submit the transcript, an apparent oversight. Accordingly, Panasonic
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`does not seek to strike this evidence.
`
`3
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`Case No. IPR2019-00131
`Patent No. 9,258,698
`2019) (striking portions of a sur-reply that relied on new evidence, in the form of a
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`supplemental declaration, improperly included as an exhibit to the sur-reply, citing
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`the Practice Guide); Navistar, Inc. v. Fatigue Fracture Tech., LLC, IPR2018-
`
`00853, 2019 WL 4126205, at *21 (PTAB Aug. 29, 2019) (granting motion to
`
`strike exhibits to a sur-reply as evidence because they “do not comply with [the
`
`Board’s] rules for proper evidence to accompany a sur-reply,” citing the Practice
`
`Guide).
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`Furthermore, the circumstances here do not justify a departure from the
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`Practice Guide. To the contrary, fairness and due process require the Board to
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`follow the Practice Guide, as discussed in Sections II.B and II.C below.
`
`B.
`
`If Not Stricken, the Untimely Evidence Would Prejudice
`Panasonic and Violate Panasonic’s Due Process Rights.
`The Untimely Evidence unfairly prejudices Panasonic because it has no
`
`opportunity to depose Cellspin’s expert witness on his extensive new declaration or
`
`to address Cellspin’s new evidence in briefing. The Board strikes sur-reply
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`evidence and sur-replies based thereon not just for plainly violating the Board’s
`
`rules and guidance, but also to prevent the unfair prejudice that would otherwise
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`accrue to the other party due to a lack of other means for responding to the newly
`
`presented evidence. See Trane U.S. Inc. v. SEMCO, LLC, IPR2018-00514, 2019
`
`WL 1757866, at *2-4 (PTAB Apr. 17, 2019), (striking new arguments in a sur-
`
`reply accompanied by belatedly presented evidence, noting that “we cannot
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`4
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`Case No. IPR2019-00131
`Patent No. 9,258,698
`overlook a party’s blatant disregard of our rules and practice when doing so would
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`unfairly prejudice another party, unduly burden the Board’s review of the
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`evidence, and impact the efficiency of our decision-making”).
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`Cellspin’s new expert declaration would be particularly prejudicial; it is
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`largely a lengthy improper re-direct that frequently attempts to undo the damaging
`
`admissions in his deposition testimony. One clear example: in his deposition
`
`Dr. Foley answered a line of questions about the Mashita prior art reference,
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`specifically the process shown and described in Figures 6 and 7. Concluding this
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`line of questions, Dr. Foley agreed that “multiple images could be transferred”
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`between the digital camera and cell phone in one session—after receiving one
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`image file, “the cellular phone could receive another image file from the digital
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`camera.” Ex. 1023, 103:7-104:21 (quoted at length in Panasonic’s reply (Paper 23)
`
`at 16-17). His admissions completely undermined Cellspin’s theory that Mashita’s
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`system would terminate the Bluetooth connection after every image transfer. In his
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`second declaration, Dr. Foley purports to address “confusion” about his
`
`testimony—by contradicting it entirely. “The digital camera terminates the
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`wireless link with the cellular phone immediately after transmitting the file … it
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`would be impossible [for the cell phone] to receive another image from the digital
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`camera.” Ex. 2026, ¶¶58-61.
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`5
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`Another example: at his deposition, when asked “HTTP is a protocol that
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`can be used for wireless communication in a public network; is that right?”
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`Dr. Foley did not disagree, answering: “I don't see anything that would exclude it
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`from being used over, you know, any IP network.” Ex. 1023, 18:14-19. As
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`explained in Panasonic’s reply, this admission undermines Cellspin’s “teaching
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`away” argument. Paper 23 at 25. In his second declaration, Dr. Foley claims this
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`answer was “misconstrue[d]” in Panasonic’s reply and spends three paragraphs
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`attempting to explain away his testimony. Ex. 2026, ¶¶98-100.
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`Cellspin could have—indeed, did—ask Dr. Foley redirect questions at his
`
`deposition. See Ex. 1023, 107:1-108:20. That was the time for Cellspin to seek to
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`elicit any testimony from Dr. Foley to clear up any “confusion.” Waiting to see
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`how Panasonic used his deposition testimony in its reply brief, then lobbing in over
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`50 pages of written redirect without any opportunity for Panasonic to re-cross or
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`respond, is improper and prejudicial.
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`Dr. Foley also presents entirely new theories in his second declaration. For
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`example, in his first declaration Dr. Foley did not contest Panasonic’s argument
`
`that Mashita discloses a GUI. Panasonic pointed this out in its reply brief. Paper
`
`23 at 27-28. In his second declaration, Dr. Foley now asserts that “[i]n fact,
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`Mashita does not contain a GUI.” Ex. 2026, ¶112. Once again, Cellspin waited to
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`see Panasonic’s reply and then used the second declaration to try to patch the holes
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`6
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`Case No. IPR2019-00131
`Patent No. 9,258,698
`Panasonic identified in its positions. Once again, it would unfairly prejudice
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`Panasonic to allow this untimely material to remain in the record.
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`Failure to strike the Untimely Evidence would also violate the
`
`Administrative Procedure Act and its guarantees of due process. “In a formal
`
`adjudication, such as inter partes review, the APA imposes certain procedural
`
`requirements on the agency.” Genzyme Therapeutic Prods. Ltd. P’Ship v.
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`Biomarin Pharm. Inc., 825 F.3d 1360, 1365-66 (Fed. Cir. 2016). Among these are
`
`the basic requirements of due process: that parties be given both notice of the
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`evidence and arguments on which the other side relies as well as an opportunity to
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`respond. See id.; see also 5 U.S.C. §§ 554(b)-(c), 556(d), 557(c); Abbott Labs. v.
`
`Cordis Corp., 710 F.3d 1318, 1328 (Fed. Cir. 2013) (“The indispensable
`
`ingredients of due process are notice and an opportunity to be heard by a
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`disinterested decision-maker.”).
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`If the Board admits Cellspin’s Untimely Evidence, those basic due process
`
`requirements will have been violated. The introduction of new evidence in the
`
`middle of a proceeding is permissible only “as long as the opposing party is given
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`notice of the evidence and an opportunity to respond to it.” Genzyme, 825 F.3d at
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`1366; accord Yeda Res. v. Mylan Pharm. Inc., 906 F.3d 1031, 1040 (Fed. Cir.
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`2018) (approving of new evidence included in reply declaration because opposing
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`party deposed expert afterward and could have substantively responded through a
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`7
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`Case No. IPR2019-00131
`Patent No. 9,258,698
`sur-reply). Here the Untimely Evidence is attached to a sur-reply, to which no
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`responsive briefing is permitted. Nor would responsive briefing, alone, provide an
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`adequate remedy; Panasonic has no opportunity to depose Cellspin’s expert
`
`witness on the extensive new material in his declaration. Panasonic’s only
`
`opportunity to address the new factual assertions is at the hearing, which is too late
`
`to comport with due process. See, e.g., Dell Inc. v. Acceleron, LLC, 818 F.3d
`
`1293, 1301 (Fed. Cir. 2016) (“[T]he Board denied Acceleron its procedural rights
`
`by relying in its decision on a factual assertion introduced into the proceeding only
`
`at oral argument, after Acceleron could meaningfully respond.”). If the Board does
`
`not strike Cellspin’s improper evidentiary submission, any decision in this
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`proceeding will be subject to vacatur for failing to afford Panasonic due process.
`
`See id. at 1301-02; see also, e.g., N. Am. Coal Co. v. Miller, 870 F.2d 948, 951 (3d
`
`Cir. 1989) (vacating and remanding agency decision on due-process grounds for
`
`failing to provide an opportunity to cross-examine witness’s opinions through
`
`deposition).
`
`C.
`
`Cellspin Cannot Justify the Belated Submission of the Untimely
`Evidence.
`Cellspin has argued, post hoc, that its Untimely Evidence and improper sur-
`
`reply are justified because of supposed improprieties in Panasonic’s reply brief and
`
`accompanying evidence (see Paper 35 at 2-5); this argument fails for several
`
`reasons. As an initial matter, Cellspin’s complaints about Panasonic’s reply and
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`8
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`Case No. IPR2019-00131
`Patent No. 9,258,698
`evidence are meritless, as Panasonic will explain in detail in responding to
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`Cellspin’s expected motion to strike.
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`In any case, the two motions to strike are not “intertwined” whatsoever.
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`Contra Paper 35 at 3. Cellspin flatly and unquestionably violated an express
`
`prohibition on submitting new evidence with a sur-reply. Panasonic submitted
`
`new evidence with a reply, which is permitted under the Board’s rules and Practice
`
`Guide. Cellspin’s anticipated motion will turn on a different issue than this
`
`motion: whether, on the specific facts of this case, Panasonic’s arguments and
`
`evidence exceeded the proper scope of a reply brief (they do not).
`
`The Board has made clear what parties should do if they believe the
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`opposing party has exceeded the proper scope of reply: timely request
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`authorization to file a motion to strike. Practice Guide at 80.2 The parties should
`
`2 Cellspin argued that Panasonic’s request for authorization to move to strike was
`
`untimely because it was filed “eight days” after Cellspin’s sur-reply (see Paper 35
`
`at 2), ignoring that the “delay” was due in part to Cellspin’s non-responsiveness
`
`and the intervening Thanksgiving holiday. Cellspin filed its sur-reply shortly
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`before midnight on Tuesday, November 26. Panasonic’s counsel’s offices were
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`closed on November 28 and 29 for Thanksgiving. On the next business day,
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`Monday, December 2, Panasonic contacted Cellspin asking for availability for a
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`9
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`Case No. IPR2019-00131
`Patent No. 9,258,698
`not do what Cellspin did: engage in unauthorized self-help by filing new evidence
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`and impermissible sur-reply arguments purportedly responding to the improper
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`reply, then only seek to strike the reply in a tit-for-tat motion after filing a sur-
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`reply.
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`It is not hard to imagine what could result in future proceedings if the Board
`
`permits Cellspin’s conduct here. Patent owners often dispute whether petitioners
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`adhered to the proper scope of the reply brief. In such cases, patent owners would
`
`cite this case as precedent for filing unauthorized sur-reply evidence. In short,
`
`even if Cellspin’s complaints about Panasonic’s reply were valid (they are not), the
`
`Board should still strike the Untimely Evidence.
`
`D.
`
`Cellspin’s Sur-Reply Attempts to Circumvent the Word Count
`Limit with Improper Spacing Throughout the Brief.
`In addition to rules regarding the timing of evidence, the Board’s rules and
`
`guidance provide that replies and sur-replies are limited to 5,600 words. See 37
`
`C.F.R. § 42.24(c); Practice Guide at 38. Furthermore, the Board’s rules require
`
`“normal spacing” be used in documents filed in a proceeding. 37 C.F.R.
`
`§ 42.6(a)(2)(ii). In light of these rules, the Board has warned that use of citation
`
`conference call with the Board to discuss a motion to strike, and followed up the
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`next day. Cellspin did not respond until Wednesday, December 4, after which
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`Panasonic contacted the Board.
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`10
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`Patent No. 9,258,698
`formats in circumvention of these rules “could result in dismissal” of a paper filed
`
`in a proceeding before the Board. Snap-On Inc. v. Milwaukee Elec. Tool Corp.,
`
`IPR2015-01242, 2016 WL 8944781, at *2 (PTAB Aug. 19, 2016). In particular,
`
`“deleting spacing between words, … in order to circumvent the rules on word
`
`count, may lead to a party’s brief not being considered.” Practice Guide at 40
`
`(citing Pi-Net Int’l, Inc. v. JPMorgan Chase & Co., 600 F. App’x 774 (Fed. Cir.
`
`2015)).
`
`Cellspin improperly deleted spaces between words in, it appears, every
`
`record citation in the sur-reply, so that each citation would be counted as one word.
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`An example is on page 4: “table.’Ex.2003,6;Ex.2026,¶15.” This is not even
`
`arguably “normal spacing”; it is “no spacing.” Indeed, it is just like the improper
`
`lack of spacing in Pi-Net that led the Federal Circuit to strike a party’s brief. See
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`600 F. App’x at 774 (giving an example improper case cite from the brief:
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`“Thorner.v.SonyComputerEntm'tAm.LLC,669F3d1362,1365(Fed.Cir.2012)”). The
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`example cited above, spaced properly, would be seven words: “table.’ Ex. 2003, 6;
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`Ex. 2026, ¶15.” With proper citation spacing, the sur-reply would be
`
`approximately 400 words over the 5600-word limit.
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`11
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`Case No. IPR2019-00131
`Patent No. 9,258,698
`E.
`Granting this Motion is the Proper Remedy for Cellspin’s
`Violations.
`Panasonic understands that the Board views motions to strike as requesting
`
`an “exceptional remedy” that is granted rarely. See Practice Guide at 80-81. With
`
`that in mind, Panasonic has considered carefully what remedy to request.
`
`Panasonic submits that the Board has no reasonable alternative to striking
`
`the Untimely Evidence. Anything short of that would violate Panasonic’s due
`
`process rights and the Administrative Procedure Act, and unfairly prejudice
`
`Panasonic in a substantial way, for the reasons explained in detail above. Indeed,
`
`this is just the type of exceptional situation that the Practice Guide instructs will
`
`justify a motion to strike: when the fact that “evidence is belatedly presented [is]
`
`beyond dispute.” See Practice Guide, p. 80-81. And the Board has done just that
`
`in other cases presenting the same type of violation. See Mallinckrodt, IPR2018-
`
`00974, Paper 34 at 8-9; Navistar, 2019 WL 4126205, at *21.
`
`As for the sur-reply brief itself, the totality of the circumstances justifies
`
`striking that brief as well. First, the sur-reply brief largely just paraphrases the
`
`second Foley declaration. Almost every sentence in the sur-reply is followed by a
`
`citation to the second Foley declaration. Indeed, Cellspin has represented that its
`
`patent owner response “copied or paraphrased” Dr. Foley’s first declaration (Paper
`
`30 at 2); it seems the sur-reply did the same for the second declaration. As such,
`
`this is not a case where the Board can parse and consider only the proper portions
`
`12
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`Case No. IPR2019-00131
`Patent No. 9,258,698
`of the sur-reply. See Practice Guide at 74 (“The Board is not required to attempt to
`
`sort proper from improper portions of the reply or sur-reply.”). Second, Cellspin’s
`
`attempt to manipulate the word count limit through clearly improper spacing also
`
`justifies striking the sur-reply, as the authorities discussed above demonstrate.
`
`Third, and finally, the Board should consider that it has already admonished
`
`Cellspin twice for failing to follow proper procedure. See Paper 29 at 33 n.19;
`
`Paper 33 at 3.
`
`Should the Board wish to impose a more lenient sanction as an alternative to
`
`striking the sur-reply, however, the Board could strike the Untimely Evidence and
`
`treat the statements in the sur-reply citing to those exhibits as unsupported attorney
`
`argument.
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`III. Conclusion
`For the foregoing reasons, Petitioners respectfully request that the Board
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`strike Cellspin’s sur-reply and Exhibits 2026-2029 and 2031-2033.
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`Dated: December 23, 2019
`
`Respectfully submitted,
`
`By: / T. Vann Pearce, Jr. /
`
`T. Vann Pearce, Jr.
`Lead Counsel for Petitioners Panasonic
`Corporation of North America and
`Panasonic Corporation
`
`13
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`Case No. IPR2019-00131
`Patent No. 9,258,698
`
`CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
`
`The undersigned hereby certifies that a copy of the foregoing was served on
`
`December 23, 2019 via electronic service:
`
`David T. Xue
`Karineh Khachatourian
`Rimôn Law
`2479 East Bayshore Road, Suite 210
`Palo Alto, CA 94303
`david.xue@rimonlaw.com
`karinehk@rimonlaw.com
`
`Jennifer C. Bailey
`Adam P. Seitz
`Erise IP, P.A.
`7015 College Boulevard, Suite 700
`Overland Park, KS 66211
`jennifer.bailey@eriseip.com
`adam.seitz@eriseip.com
`PTAB@eriseip.com
`
`Attorneys for Petitioners GoPro, Inc. Garmin International, Inc., and Garmin
`USA, Inc.
`Stephen F. Schlather
`Edmonds & Schlather, PLLC
`1616 South Voss Road, Suite 125
`Houston, TX 77057
`sschlather@ip-lit.com
`
`John J. Edmonds
`Edmonds & Schlather, PLLC
`355 South Grand Avenue, Suite 2450
`Los Angeles, CA 90071
`pto-edmonds@ip-lit.com
`
`Attorneys for Patent Owner Cellspin Soft, Inc.
`
`/ T. Vann Pearce, Jr. /
`
`14
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`