UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
`
`BEFORE THE PATENT TRIAL AND APPEAL BOARD
`
`AMERICAN NATIONAL MANUFACTURING INC.,
`Petitioner,
`
`V.
`
`SELECT COMFORT CORPORATION,
`Patent Owner.
`
`Case No. IPR2019—00500
`
`Patent No. 9,737,154 B2
`
`DECLARATION OF PAUL MAHONEY
`
`IN SUPPORT OF PATENT OWNER’S RESPONSE
`
`Sleep Number Corp.
`EXHIBIT 2031
`|PR2019-00500
`
`Page 1
`
`Sleep Number Corp.
`EXHIBIT 2031
`IPR2019-00500
`Page 1
`
`
`
`BEFORE THE PATENT TRIAL AND APPEAL BOARD
`
`AMERICAN NATIONAL MANUFACTURING INC.,
`Petitioner,
`
`V.
`
`SELECT COMFORT CORPORATION,
`Patent Owner.
`
`Case No. IPR2019—00500
`
`Patent No. 9,737,154 B2
`
`DECLARATION OF PAUL MAHONEY
`
`IN SUPPORT OF PATENT OWNER’S RESPONSE
`
`Sleep Number Corp.
`EXHIBIT 2031
`|PR2019-00500
`
`Page 1
`
`Sleep Number Corp.
`EXHIBIT 2031
`IPR2019-00500
`Page 1
`
`
`
`1, Paul James Mahoney, declare as follows:
`
`1.
`
`I am over the age of 21 years and am fully competent to make this
`
`Declaration. I make the following statements based on personal knowledge and, if
`
`called to testify to them, could and would do so.
`
`2.
`
`I received my Bachelor’s of Science in Electrical Engineering from the
`
`University of Dayton in Dayton, Ohio in 1966.
`
`I also received a Masters in
`
`Biomedical Engineering from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas in
`
`1972.
`
`3.
`
`l was employed at Select Comfort Corporation, which is now known as
`
`Sleep Number Corporation (referred to herein as “Sleep Number”), as an engineer
`
`and later as Senior Product Design Engineer from June 1995 to July 201 1. Prior to
`
`joining Sleep Number, I was the Director of Research and Development at Aequitron
`
`Medical.
`
`1 also worked as the Manager of Corporate Research Laboratories at 3M.
`
`4.
`
`5.
`
`A copy of my current CV is attached as Appendix A.
`
`While at Sleep Number, I was heavily involved in the product research,
`
`development, and design of air control systems sold as part of the company’s
`
`adjustable air mattress systems. Sleep Number refers to those systems as their
`
`proprietary Sleep Number® beds. As part of my job, we did extensive testing on
`
`different designs. We regularly used test subjects to try out new concepts or designs.
`
`Sleep Number Corp.
`EXHIBIT 2031
`|PR2019-00500
`
`Page 2
`
`Sleep Number Corp.
`EXHIBIT 2031
`IPR2019-00500
`Page 2
`
`
`
`We also regularly received relevant customer feedback, which would inform our
`
`design choices and strategies.
`
`6.
`
`I was an inventor in the field of adjustable mattresses.
`
`I am the named
`
`inventor of several United States patents, including U.S. Patent No. 5,904,172 (“the
`
`‘172 Patent”), U.S. Patent No. 9,737,154 (“the ‘154 Patent”), and U.S. Patent No.
`
`8,769,747 (“the ‘747 Patent”). Each of these patents is in the field of adjustable air
`
`beds.
`
`7.
`
`The ‘172 Patent teaches a novel system for adjustable air beds that
`
`allows for continuous monitoring and adjusting of the pressure in an air bladder
`
`within a mattress in order to adjust the firmness for a desired user. Specifically,
`
`pressure is monitored from a valve enclosure assembly, which is remotely located
`
`from the
`
`air bladder.
`
`The pressure
`
`is monitored before
`
`and during
`
`inflation/deflation, allowing the system to inflate/deflate the air bladder until the
`
`pressure sensed within an air chamber
`
`in the valve enclosure assembly is
`
`substantially equal to the desired pressure, at which point inflation/deflation stops.
`
`8.
`
`The purpose behind adjustable air beds, and the reason Sleep Number
`
`believed consumers would purchase its adjustable air beds,
`
`is that users can
`
`individualize or customize the mattress, as they desire,
`
`to his/her preferred
`
`firmness—22a, they can change the firmness at any time. As such, each user may
`
`Sleep Number Corp.
`EXHIBIT 2031
`|PR2019-00500
`
`Page 3
`
`Sleep Number Corp.
`EXHIBIT 2031
`IPR2019-00500
`Page 3
`
`
`
`make a selection of his/her desired pressure, which I refer to as the desired pressure
`
`setpoint.
`
`9.
`
`The degree or magnitude of pressure adjustments in an adjustable air
`
`bed are very small. As an initial matter, the air bladders in the adjustable beds
`
`usually have a fully deflated pressure of 0.0 or 0.05 PSI and a fully inflated pressure
`
`of around 0.6 PS1. While other ranges are possible, those skilled in the art of
`
`adjustable air mattresses would appreciate that each pressure adjustment would be a
`
`fraction of a fraction of a PSI. For example, Sleep Number beds have sleep settings
`
`or desired pressure setpoints that range from 0 to 100 in increments of 5 (i.e. 0, 5,
`
`10, 15, etc.). Accordingly, a sleep setting of 0 is indicative of a fully deflated air
`
`bladder, i. e. 0.0 or 0.05 PS1, and a sleep setting of 100 is indicative of a fully inflated
`
`air bladder, i.e., 0.6 PSI.
`
`10. We did several experiments at Sleep Number and we found that users
`
`can generally appreciate the difference in firmness between pressure changes of as
`
`little as 0.01 to 0.03 PSI.
`
`For example, we found that users could generally
`
`appreciate the difference in firmness between a sleep setting of 30 (approx. 0.18 PSI)
`
`and 35 (approx. 0.21 PSI).
`
`In fact, most users could tell a huge difference between
`
`each sleep setting when in the 20-40 (approx. 0.12 to 0.24 PSI) sleep setting range.
`
`However, due to the pressure transducers available to us it was difficult
`
`to
`
`consistently achieve a sleep setting with increments smaller than 0.03 PSI.
`
`In
`
`Sleep Number Corp.
`EXHIBIT 2031
`|PR2019-00500
`
`Page 4
`
`Sleep Number Corp.
`EXHIBIT 2031
`IPR2019-00500
`Page 4
`
`
`
`addition, as the pressure increased, e.g., when approaching sleep settings of 80
`
`(approx. 0.48 PSI), users could not always appreciate the difference between
`
`pressure adjustments smaller than 0.03 PSI. Accordingly, while different increments
`
`may be used, we consistently used pressure adjustments in increments of 0.03 PSI.
`
`11.
`
`Through my experience in the bed industry, I understood that most
`
`individuals had a predisposition to a certain firmness, e.g., sofi, medium, or firm.
`
`Indeed, in my experience most users or test subjects preferred a firmness within the
`
`20-40 sleep setting range, or 0.12 to 0.24 PS1.
`
`It is my opinion, through my work
`
`and experiences, that users often toggle between desired pressures that are very close
`
`to one another.
`
`In other words, a user preferring a soft to medium firmness may
`
`change from a Sleep Number setting of 30 to 35 (or vice versa), which as discussed
`
`above represents a very small change of .03 PSI but would be a noticeable change
`
`in firmness for the user. While a user could drastically change the firmness of his/her
`
`mattress by switching between a sleep setting of 20 (approx. 0.12 PSI) and 80
`
`(approx. 0.48 PSI),
`
`this magnitude of change was considered to be more the
`
`exception than the rule. That is, the understanding of those working in the field was
`
`that users who were predisposed to a generally firm mattress would not often switch
`
`to a very soft setting (or vice versa). Additionally, even if a user changed from a
`
`setting of 0 to 100 (or vice versa), it would only represent an approximate change of
`
`0.6 PS1.
`
`Sleep Number Corp.
`EXHIBIT 2031
`|PR2019-00500
`
`Page 5
`
`Sleep Number Corp.
`EXHIBIT 2031
`IPR2019-00500
`Page 5
`
`
`
`12. We also learned that users of adjustable air beds would find a preferred
`
`or favorite sleep setting and, if the pressure of the bed was ever changed for any
`
`reason, the user wanted to be able to return to his/her preferred setting with accuracy.
`
`For example, if a user whose preferred sleep setting was 30 (approx. 0.18 PSI) was
`
`using an adjustable air mattress system with a sleep setting set at 50 (approx. 0.3),
`
`the user wanted to be able to select a sleep setting of 30 and know that the pressure
`
`would be accurately adjusted down to approx. 0.18 PSI. Because of this consistency
`
`of accurately achieving a particular pressure, a user could also be confident of
`
`achieving a similar sleep on a different Sleep Number bed, for example while
`
`traveling. Accurately achieving this pressure was especially important because, as I
`
`described above, most users could appreciate a huge difference in pressures in the
`
`most common sleep setting range of 20—40.
`
`13.
`
`The purpose of an adjustable air mattress system is to allow a user to
`
`be able to easily adjust the firmness of his/her side of their bed to a desired pressure
`
`setting, which may be different than the other side of the bed. Older systems, usually
`
`those using blower pumps, were designed to simply allow a user to inflate or deflate
`
`the air bladder within the mattress. These older systems did not include a preselected
`
`pressure setting but simply allowed a user to inflate or deflate for a period of time.
`
`With the introduction of preselected pressure settings, a user could select a setting
`
`that would correspond to a particular pressure. However, these systems did not have
`
`Sleep Number Corp.
`EXHIBIT 2031
`|PR2019-00500
`
`Page 6
`
`Sleep Number Corp.
`EXHIBIT 2031
`IPR2019-00500
`Page 6
`
`
`
`a way to accurately and continuously monitor the pressure during inflation or
`
`deflation, and therefore consistently overshot or undershot the pressure, which
`
`resulted in either ( 1) a pressure adjustment that did not accurately and consistently
`
`achieve the user’s desired pressure or (2) a problem of multiple iterative adjustments
`
`while attempting to achieve the desired pressure, which We called hunting or
`
`pecking. Through the development of the innovative technologies disclosed in the
`
`‘172, ‘154, and ‘747 Patents and described herein, we were able to solve these
`
`problems. With these technologies, after a user selects a setting and the desired
`
`pressure is calculated, the pressure may be consistently adjusted, either by inflation
`
`or deflation, until the actual pressure is substantially equal to the desired pressure.
`
`14. While inventing the technology disclosed in the ‘ 172 Patent, we wanted
`
`to create a system that could achieve the desired pressure setpoint while reducing
`
`costs, noise, and heat, the latter of which was generated by solenoids periodically
`
`opening and closing while hunting for the correct pressure.
`
`Jim Gifft, the other
`
`inventor of the ‘ 172 Patent, and I designed an improved valve enclosure assembly
`
`so that the pressure in the air bladder could be continuously monitored from the valve
`
`enclosure, allowing the system to stop inflation/deflation when the sensed pressure
`
`was substantially equal to the desired setpoint.
`
`15.
`
`This desire, to achieve a precise and accurate pressure adjustment so
`
`that the user would be able to achieve a setting substantially close to what he/she
`
`Sleep Number Corp.
`EXHIBIT 2031
`|PR2019-00500
`
`Page 7
`
`Sleep Number Corp.
`EXHIBIT 2031
`IPR2019-00500
`Page 7
`
`
`
`selected, became even more paramount while inventing the technology disclosed in
`
`the ‘747 and ‘ 154 Patents. Accordingly, I was part of a team that designed a method
`
`or system for an adjustable bed that would more accurately achieve the desired
`
`inflation/deflation for each user.
`
`16.
`
`Generally in the adjustable air bed industry, and specifically in
`
`developing the technologies disclosed in the ‘172,
`
`‘747, and ‘ 154 Patents,
`
`the
`
`accuracy of the pressure adjustment was more important than limiting the time spent
`
`achieving the desired pressure point.
`
`In other words, it was understood by those in
`
`the industry that it would be better to spend more time adjusting the pressure if you
`
`could ensure a more accurate adjustment. Indeed, it was our understanding that users
`
`consider precision or accuracy in adjustments to be of paramount
`
`importance
`
`because that allows users to achieve a desired firmness setting. Because, as I
`
`mentioned above, it was our understanding that users could appreciate the difference
`
`between even 0.03 PSI or less, it was important to achieve a pressure as close to the
`
`desired pressure as possible.
`
`I do not believe the user experience would have been
`
`positive or successful if the adjustable air mattress system did not achieve a precise
`
`and accurate pressure adjustment.
`
`17.
`
`The ‘ 172 Patent allows consumers to easily adjust the firmness of
`
`his/her side of their bed to a desired pressure setting.
`
`I believe incorporating this
`
`technology was beneficial to, and desired by, consumers.
`
`In fact, when we first
`
`Sleep Number Corp.
`EXHIBIT 2031
`|PR2019-00500
`
`Page 8
`
`Sleep Number Corp.
`EXHIBIT 2031
`IPR2019-00500
`Page 8
`
`
`
`invented a new air controller incorporating this technology (which we called the
`
`Stealth pump), no one at
`
`the company believed that we could develop an air
`
`controller with the high degree of efficiency and that was so quiet. To get people on
`
`board, I snuck a Stealth pump into a meeting and let it run during the duration. At
`
`the end, when I revealed that the air controller had been running the entire meeting,
`
`my colleagues believed that it was worthwhile to invest in developing the Stealth
`
`pump. After doing so, we believed as a company that this technology was so
`
`important that Sleep Number began incorporating the ‘ 172 Patent technology into
`
`more and more of Sleep Number’s air controllers over time.
`
`18. When the ‘172 Patent technology was first incorporated into a Sleep
`
`Number air controller for sale in 1998 (the UFCS3 pump), there was only one
`
`mattress model (the Ultra) being sold with that air controller. The Stealth pump was
`
`revolutionary for Sleep Number and became the new standard that we continued to
`
`improve on over time. Throughout the years, Sleep Number expanded the product
`
`offerings that incorporated the technology and added additional, complementary
`
`technology into its air controllers.
`
`In fact,
`
`it was always engineering’s goal to
`
`incorporate the technology into all of Sleep Number’s air controllers over time. By
`
`the time I left the company in July 2011, the plan was for all mattress models to soon
`
`be sold with the ‘ 172 Patent technology.
`
`Sleep Number Corp.
`EXHIBIT 2031
`|PR2019-00500
`
`Page 9
`
`Sleep Number Corp.
`EXHIBIT 2031
`IPR2019-00500
`Page 9
`
`
`
`19.
`
`The internal aspects of the enclosure of the valve enclosure assemblies
`
`used in Sleep Number’s air controllers were substantially the same throughout the
`
`early 20003. For example, the internal aspects ofthe enclosure ofthe valve enclosure
`
`assembly sold with the 5000/6000 air controller, which we called the Pegasus and
`
`which we sold between 2004 and 2008, would have been the same as the next air
`
`controller we introduced, which we called the Corolla and which we began selling
`
`in 2008.
`
`20.
`
`The ‘154 and ‘747 Patents disclose an improved pressure adjustment
`
`system and method through use of algorithm that allows for more quickly and more
`
`accurately reaching the user’s desired pressure.
`
`I also believe incorporating this
`
`technology was beneficial to, and desired by, consumers.
`
`In fact, we believed as a
`
`company that
`
`this
`
`technology was so important
`
`that Sleep Number began
`
`incorporating the ‘ 154 and ‘747 Patents into technology into most of Sleep Number’ 5
`
`air controllers very quickly after the patents were filed. It was always engineering’s
`
`goal-Ito incorporate the technology into all of Sleep Number’s air controllers over
`
`time. By the time I left the company in July 2011, the plan was for all mattress
`
`models to soon be sold with the ‘ 154 and ‘747 Patent technology.
`
`Sleep Number Corp.
`EXHIBIT 2031
`|PR2019-00500
`
`Page 10
`
`Sleep Number Corp.
`EXHIBIT 2031
`IPR2019-00500
`Page 10
`
`
`
`I declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing is true and correct.
`a/
`Executedon CDC [
`
`”3-1, 2019.
`
`Pafi‘ Ma
`
`ey
`
`
`
`10
`
`Sleep Number Corp.
`EXHIBIT 2031
`|PR2019-00500
`
`Page 1 1
`
`Sleep Number Corp.
`EXHIBIT 2031
`IPR2019-00500
`Page 11
`
`
`
`PAUL JAMES MAHONEY
`WORK HISTORY
`
`1331 Dallager Ct
`Stillwater, MN 55082
`651.430.1853
`chef.paul@chef.net
`
`CHEF/OWNER, TASTE! L.L.C., STILLWATER, MN
`2013 - Present
`SENIOR PRODUCT DEVELOMENT ENGINEER, SELECT COMFORT, MINNEAPOLIS,
`MN
`1995-2012
`DIRECTOR OF RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT, AEQUITRON MEDICAL,
`PLYMOUTH, MN
`1988-1995
`
`MANAGER OF CORPORATE RESEARCH LABORATORIES, 3M, ST. PAUL, MN
`
`EDUCATION
`
`CULINARY ARTS DEGREE, HENNIPIN TECHNICAL COLLEGE, MINNEAPOLIS, MN,
`2013
`MBA, COLLEGE OF ST. THOMAS, MINNEAPOLIS, MN, 1990
`MASTERS IN BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING, SMU, DALLAS, TEXAS, 1972
`BSEE, UNIVERSITY OF DAYTON, DAYTON OHIO, 1966
`
`Sleep Number Corp.
`EXHIBIT 2031
`IPR2019-00500
`Page 12
`
`APPENDIX A
`
`
Accessing this document will incur an additional charge of $.
After purchase, you can access this document again without charge.
Accept $ Charge
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.
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.
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
