throbber
UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`BEFORE THE PATENT TRIAL AND APPEAL BOARD
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`APPLE INC.
`
`Petitioner
`
`v.
`
`UNILOC 2017 LLC
`
`Patent Owner
`
`
`
`
`
`IPR2019-00056
`PATENT 6,467,088
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`PATENT OWNER PRELIMINARY RESPONSE TO PETITION
`
`
`
`PURSUANT TO 37 C.F.R. §42.107(a)
`
`
`Page 1 of 24
`
`

`

`IPR2019-00056
`U.S. Patent 6,467,088
`
`Table of Contents
`
`I.
`II.
`III.
`IV.
`V.
`
`INTRODUCTION .................................................................................... 1
`THE ’088 PATENT .................................................................................. 1
`RELATED PROCEEDINGS .................................................................... 3
`LEVEL OF ORDINARY SKILL IN THE ART ...................................... 3
`PETITIONER DOES NOT PROVE A REASONABLE
`LIKELIHOOD OF UNPATENTABILITY FOR ANY
`CHALLENGED CLAIM .......................................................................... 4
`A.
`Claim Construction ......................................................................... 4
`B.
`The Applied References Fail to Disclose
`“compar[[ing]/[e]] the determined component and
`information specifying at least one additional
`component currently implemented in the electronic
`device with at least one of [[a]/[the]] list of known
`acceptable configurations for the electronic device and
`[[a]/[the]] list of known unacceptable configurations for
`the electronic device” (Independent Claims 1, 11, and
`21) ................................................................................................... 5
`1.
`Cole in view of MacInnis and Elgressy
`(Petitioner’s Proposed Ground 1) Fails to
`Disclose “…least one of [[a]/[the]] list of known
`acceptable configurations for the electronic
`device and [[a]/[the]] list of known unacceptable
`configurations for the electronic device” ............................. 6
`Pitzel in view of Cole and Elgressy (Petitioner’s
`Proposed Ground 2) Fails to Disclose “…least
`one of [[a]/[the]] list of known acceptable
`configurations for the electronic device and
`[[a]/[the]] list of known unacceptable
`configurations for the electronic device” ........................... 10
`
`2.
`
`ii
`
`Page 2 of 24
`
`

`

`C.
`
`IPR2019-00056
`U.S. Patent 6,467,088
`
`
`The Petition fails to Prove Obviousness of Any
`Dependent Claim .......................................................................... 15
`THE PETITION REDUNDANTLY CHALLENGES ALL
`CLAIMS (CLAIMS 1-21) ...................................................................... 15
`THE CONSTITUTIONALITY OF INTER PARTES REVIEW
`IS THE SUBJECT OF A PENDING APPEAL ..................................... 18
`VIII. CONCLUSION ....................................................................................... 18
`
`
`VI.
`
`VII.
`
`
`
`iii
`
`Page 3 of 24
`
`

`

`IPR2019-00056
`U.S. Patent 6,467,088
`
`I.
`
`INTRODUCTION
`
`Uniloc 2017 LLC (“Uniloc” or “Patent Owner”) submits this Preliminary
`
`Response to Petition IPR2019-00056 for Inter Partes Review (“Pet.” or “Petition”)
`
`of United States Patent No. 6,467,088 (“the ’088 patent” or “EX1001”) filed by
`
`Apple, Inc. (“Petitioner”). The instant Petition is procedurally and substantively
`
`defective for at least the reasons set forth herein.
`
`II.
`
`THE ’088 PATENT
`
`The ’088 patent is titled “Reconfiguration Manager for Controlling Upgrades
`
`of Electronic Devices.” The ʼ088 patent issued October 15, 2002, from U.S. Patent
`
`Application No. 09/343,607 filed January June 30, 1999.
`
`The inventors of the ’088 patent observed that, at the time, many different
`
`electronic devices, such as desktop, laptop and palmtop computers, personal digital
`
`assistants (PDAs), telephones, televisions, set-top boxes and other consumer
`
`electronic processing devices, it was common for there to be improvements to
`
`software or hardware components of those electronic devices. And that users of
`
`those electronic devices would often prefer to upgrade their devices, incrementally,
`
`rather than discard their current devices and purchase new ones. And that for many
`
`of those upgrades, it was generally necessary to determine if the new or improved
`
`component is compatible with the rest of the device, and if not, what other
`
`1
`
`Page 4 of 24
`
`

`

`IPR2019-00056
`U.S. Patent 6,467,088
`
`components would need simultaneous upgrading in order to provide the desired
`
`compatibility, and that making those compatibility determinations could be
`
`particularly difficult if the range of possible device configurations is large and the
`
`interaction among device components is complex. EX1001, 1:12-39. Further, the
`
`inventors of the ’088 patent also observed that while a number of different
`
`techniques had been developed for updating components of electronic devices, there
`
`were numerous problems and shortcomings with those existing techniques,
`
`including such as failing to ensure compatibility among software and hardware
`
`components for a variety of different electronic devices. Id., 1:30-2:14.
`
`According to the invention of the ’088 patent, a reconfiguration manager is
`
`provided that may be implemented on a computer or other data processing device to
`
`control the reconfiguration of software or other components of an electronic device
`
`such as a computer, personal digital assistant (PDA), set-top box, television, etc. In
`
`accordance with the invention, a reconfiguration manager receives a reconfiguration
`
`request, e.g., a software upgrade request from the electronic device, and determines
`
`one or more device components that are required to implement the reconfiguration
`
`request. The reconfiguration manager also determines, e.g., from information
`
`supplied by the electronic device as part of the request, identifiers of one or more
`
`additional components currently implemented in the electronic device. The
`
`reconfiguration manager then compares the needed and currently implemented
`
`2
`
`Page 5 of 24
`
`

`

`IPR2019-00056
`U.S. Patent 6,467,088
`
`components with previously-stored lists of known acceptable and unacceptable
`
`configurations for the electronic device. If the needed and currently implemented
`
`components correspond to a configuration on the list of acceptable configurations,
`
`the request is approved and the needed components are downloaded or otherwise
`
`supplied to the electronic device. If the needed and currently implemented
`
`components correspond to a configuration on the list of unacceptable configurations,
`
`the request is denied. The invention ensures that upgrades are compatible with the
`
`configuration of a given device before they are implemented in that device, thereby
`
`avoiding problems associated with inconsistent upgrades. Id., 2:22-67
`
`III. RELATED PROCEEDINGS
`
`The following proceedings are currently pending cases concerning U.S. Pat.
`
`No. 6,467,088 (EX1001).
`
`Case Caption
`
`Case Number
`
`District Case Filed
`
`Uniloc USA, Inc. et al v. Apple
`Inc.
`IV. LEVEL OF ORDINARY SKILL IN THE ART
`
`1-18-cv-00296
`
`TXWD Apr. 09, 2018
`
`The Petition alleges that a person of ordinary skill in the art (“POSITA”) “for
`
`the ’088 patent would have had at least a Bachelor’s Degree in computer science,
`
`computer engineering, or a related subject or the equivalent, and two years of
`
`experience working with databases, computer networks, and related technologies.”
`
`3
`
`Page 6 of 24
`
`

`

`IPR2019-00056
`U.S. Patent 6,467,088
`
`Pet. 7-8. Given that Petitioner fails to meet its burden of proof when purportedly
`
`applying its own definition of a person of ordinary skill in the art, Patent Owner does
`
`not offer a competing definition for purposes of this proceeding.
`
`V.
`
`PETITIONER DOES NOT PROVE A REASONABLE LIKELIHOOD
`OF UNPATENTABILITY FOR ANY CHALLENGED CLAIM
`
`Petitioner has the burden of proof to establish entitlement to relief. 37 C.F.R.
`
`§42.108(c) (“review shall not be instituted for a ground of unpatentability unless
`
`. . . there is a reasonable likelihood that at least one of the claims challenged . . . is
`
`unpatentable”). The Petition fails to meet this burden.
`
`The Petition raises the following challenges:
`
`Claims
`
`Ground
`1
`2
`
`1-21
`1-21
`
`Reference(s)
`Cole1, MacInnis2 and Elgressy3
`Pitzel4, Cole, and Elgressy
`
`A. Claim Construction
`
`Patent Owner submits that the Board need not construe any claim term in a
`
`particular manner in order to arrive at the conclusion that the Petition is
`
`substantively deficient. Wellman, Inc. v. Eastman Chem. Co., 642 F.3d 1355, 1361
`
`
`
` 1
`
` EX1002, U.S. Patent No. 5,752,042.
`2 EX1003, PCT Application Publication No. WO 97/30549.
`3 EX1004, U.S. Patent No. 6,449,723.
`4 EX1005, U.S. Patent No. 7,062,765.
`
`4
`
`Page 7 of 24
`
`

`

`IPR2019-00056
`U.S. Patent 6,467,088
`
`(Fed. Cir. 2011) (“need only be construed to the extent necessary to resolve the
`
`controversy”). However, in the event that trial is instituted, Patent Owner reserves
`
`the right to object to Petitioner’s proposed construction and provide Patent Owner’s
`
`proposed construction.
`
`B.
`
`The Applied References Fail to Disclose “compar[[ing]/[e]] the
`determined component and information specifying at least one
`additional component currently implemented in the electronic
`device with at least one of [[a]/[the]] list of known acceptable
`configurations for the electronic device and [[a]/[the]] list of known
`unacceptable configurations for the electronic device”
`(Independent Claims 1, 11, and 21)
`
`The Petition’s two grounds redundantly challenges claims 1-21, without
`
`providing any alleged justification for such inefficient redundancies, and thus the
`
`Board should only consider one of the two grounds (See Section VI, below).
`
`Regardless, none of the applied references under either of Petitioner’s grounds
`
`discloses the required claim limitations “compar[[ing]/[e]] the determined
`
`component and information specifying at least one additional component currently
`
`implemented in the electronic device with at least one of [[a]/[the]] list of known
`
`acceptable configurations for the electronic device and [[a]/[the]] list of known
`
`unacceptable configurations for the electronic device” of independent claims 1, 11,
`
`and 21. More particularly, none of the applied reference discloses lists of known
`
`acceptable and known unacceptable configurations.
`
`5
`
`Page 8 of 24
`
`

`

`IPR2019-00056
`U.S. Patent 6,467,088
`
`1.
`
`Cole in view of MacInnis and Elgressy (Petitioner’s Proposed
`Ground 1) Fails to Disclose “…least one of [[a]/[the]] list of
`known acceptable configurations for the electronic device and
`[[a]/[the]] list of known unacceptable configurations for the
`electronic device”
`
`In Petitioner’s proposed Ground 1, for the claim limitation requiring at least
`
`one of a “list of known acceptable configurations for the electronic device” and a
`
`“list of known unacceptable configurations for the electronic device”, the Petition
`
`relies exclusively on Cole for allegedly disclosing either one of the required lists.5
`
`However, Cole fails to disclose either a list of known acceptable
`
`configurations or a list of known unacceptable configurations for the electronic
`
`device, as required by the claim language. The plain language of the claim limitation
`
`requires that the lists be: (1) previously determined (i.e., “known”) and (2) specific
`
`to the electronic device in question (i.e., “for the electronic device”). This
`
`5 The Petition hypothetically and conditionally proposes a combination with
`MacInnis only for the purposes of the situation where “the device component
`required to implement the reconfiguration request” is a particular component
`requested by the electronic device. Pet. 23; see also Pet. 18-19 (describing MacInnis
`as disclosing a user terminal requesting “a particular software module” for
`installation.). The Petition also proposes a hypothetical combination with Elgressy
`only for the purposes of the situation where two lists are deemed required. See Pet.
`23-28 (describing Elgressy as disclosing a system where a gateway compares the
`resources of the computer needed by an executable object with the resources allowed
`or prohibited by a Security Policy.). Thus, the Petition relies solely on Cole for
`allegedly disclosing the claim requirement of a “list of known acceptable
`configurations.”
`
`6
`
`Page 9 of 24
`
`

`

`requirement is further confirmed by the specification of the ’088 patent:
`
`IPR2019-00056
`U.S. Patent 6,467,088
`
`
`
`
`
`
`EX1001, 4:62-5:18 (highlighting added).
`
`As seen in the passages above, the claim language requires a previously
`
`determined set of known bad configurations that can be searched and a previously
`
`determined set of known good configurations that can be searched for a current
`
`configuration for a specific electronic device (i.e. “device X”). In other words, the
`
`claim language requires that the list contain previously determined acceptable or
`
`7
`
`Page 10 of 24
`
`

`

`IPR2019-00056
`U.S. Patent 6,467,088
`
`unacceptable configurations specific to the electronic device in question. Cole fails
`
`to disclose either such list.
`
`As the Petition shows, Cole only discloses and utilizes a list of all available
`
`updates without regard to the electronic device. The example given by Cole itself
`
`(and used in the Petition) is illustrative, stating, that the “table list[s] code updates
`
`available in content server 17”:
`
`EX1002, 4:1-24 (highlighting added).
`
`In other words, Cole merely looks to apply any and all code updates that are
`
`
`
`8
`
`Page 11 of 24
`
`

`

`IPR2019-00056
`U.S. Patent 6,467,088
`
`stored in its content server 17, without regard for the specific electronic device and
`
`certainly not utilizing a list of known acceptable/unacceptable configurations for the
`
`specific electronic device. Cole makes this clearer in stating:
`
`“In the illustrated embodiment, this determination is made
`by correlating the meta data in data base 13 to the basic
`system information obtained from client 14. Matches
`between the meta data and the basic system information
`indicate
`that
`the corresponding code updates are
`potentially appropriate for client 14.”
`
`EX1002, 3:62-4:1 (emphasis added).
`
`As disclosed above, the system of Cole merely iterates through every
`
`available code update available, without information or knowledge about known
`
`acceptable or unacceptable configurations for the electronic device, as is required
`
`by the claim language. Even a match of Cole’s “meta data” can only be described
`
`by Cole as a potentially appropriate.
`
`This is further confirmed by the example from Cole:
`
`
`
`9
`
`Page 12 of 24
`
`

`

`IPR2019-00056
`U.S. Patent 6,467,088
`
`EX1002, 4:25-33 (highlighting added).
`
`As shown in the passage above, the system of Cole iterates through each and
`
`every code update available on its content server 17 without any prior regard for the
`
`electronic device. Indeed, the system of Cole iterates through each and every code
`
`update available each and every time it is run without information or knowledge of
`
`any previous iterations. Thus, there is nothing in Cole that discloses creating a list
`
`of acceptable or unacceptable configurations for the specific electronic device.
`
`Likewise, there is nothing in Cole that discloses previously determining and
`
`maintaining such a list.
`
`Thus, the Petition should be denied because it fails to show the required
`
`“compar[[ing]/[e]] the determined component and information specifying at least
`
`one additional component currently implemented in the electronic device with at
`
`least one of [[a]/[the]] list of known acceptable configurations for the electronic
`
`device and [[a]/[the]] list of known unacceptable configurations for the electronic
`
`device”, in its proposed Ground 1.
`
`2.
`
`Pitzel in view of Cole and Elgressy (Petitioner’s Proposed
`Ground 2) Fails to Disclose “…least one of [[a]/[the]] list of
`known acceptable configurations for the electronic device and
`[[a]/[the]] list of known unacceptable configurations for the
`electronic device”
`
`Similarly, and as described in Section V.B.1, above, Petitioner’s proposed
`
`10
`
`Page 13 of 24
`
`

`

`IPR2019-00056
`U.S. Patent 6,467,088
`
`Ground 2 also fails for the claim limitation requiring at least one of a “list of known
`
`acceptable configurations for the electronic device” and a “list of known
`
`unacceptable configurations for the electronic device”. Here, the Petition relies
`
`primarily on Pitzel, to hedges its bets using Cole in the identical manner as in its
`
`proposed Ground 1 “to the extent” Pitzel is lacking. However, Pitzel – just like Cole
`
`– fails to disclose the required claim limitation.6
`
`Similar to Cole’s deficiencies, nothing in Pitzel discloses either a list of
`
`known acceptable configurations or a list of known unacceptable configurations for
`
`the electronic device, as required by the claim language. As discussed in Section
`
`V.B.1, above, the plain language of the claim limitation requires that the lists be: (1)
`
`previously determined (i.e., “known”) and (2) specific to the electronic device in
`
`question (i.e., “for the electronic device”). This requirement is further confirmed by
`
`the specification of the ’088 patent:
`
`
`
` 6
`
` Just like with Cole, the Petition proposes a hypothetical combination with Elgressy
`only for the purpose of a situation where two lists are deemed required. See Pet. 53-
`56 (describing Elgressy as disclosing a system where a gateway compares the
`resources of the computer needed by an executable object with the resources allowed
`or prohibited by a Security Policy.).
`
`11
`
`Page 14 of 24
`
`

`

`IPR2019-00056
`U.S. Patent 6,467,088
`
`
`
`
`
`
`EX1001, 4:62-5:18 (highlighting added).
`
`As seen in the passage above, the claim language requires a previously
`
`determined set of known bad configurations that can be searched and a previously
`
`determined set of known good configurations that can be searched for a current
`
`configuration of a specific electronic device (i.e. “device X”). In other words, the
`
`claim language requires that the list contain previously determined acceptable or
`
`unacceptable configurations specific to the electronic device in question. Pitzel fails
`
`to disclose either such list.
`
`12
`
`Page 15 of 24
`
`

`

`IPR2019-00056
`U.S. Patent 6,467,088
`
`Pitzel discloses in its “METHOD OF OPERATION” section that the client
`
`computer initiates an upgrade request of one or more components through the user
`
`accessing a plurality of web pages hosted on a configuration server, where at least
`
`one of the web pages has information about one of the components. EX1005, 7:15-
`
`30. By its own description, the configuration server of Pitzel merely hosts a
`
`catalogue of all available components for the user to choose from. Nothing in that
`
`transaction shows or utilizes the required list of known acceptable or unacceptable
`
`configurations for the electronic device. In other words, hosting a catalogue of every
`
`available component without regard for the specific electronic device is not the
`
`required list of known acceptable or unacceptable configurations for the specific
`
`electronic device.
`
`The Petition’s cherry-picked fragment of a quote from Pitzel fares no better.
`
`The Petition argues, by selecting a fragment of a sentence out of an entire section
`
`from Pitzel, that the limitation is met because the component server allegedly
`
`“select[s] components that are compatibly operable with the client.” Pet. 48.
`
`However, the Petition presents the quoted fragment in conclusory fashion and
`
`without context. A review of the relevant section in full reveals that upon the system
`
`of Pitzel determining a user’s upgrade request of a component has not expired, for
`
`that particular component, the upgrade handler module selects appropriate version(s)
`
`of the upgrade to send back to the user. See EX1005, 9:29-10:30. Even in that
`
`13
`
`Page 16 of 24
`
`

`

`IPR2019-00056
`U.S. Patent 6,467,088
`
`scenario, the system describes the upgrade handler searching among all of the
`
`possible versions(s) of the components in determining what to send back to the user.
`
`Nothing in that transaction shows or utilizes the required list of known acceptable or
`
`unacceptable configurations for the electronic device. In other words, searching
`
`through all possible version(s) of the component(s) without regard for the specific
`
`electronic device is not the required list of known acceptable or unacceptable
`
`configurations for the specific electronic device.
`
`Moreover, as already shown in Section V.B.1, above, Petitioner’s reliance on
`
`Cole also fails. The system of Cole iterates through each and every code update
`
`available on its content server without any prior regard for the electronic device. In
`
`other words, the system of Cole merely iterates through each and every code update
`
`available each and every time, without information or knowledge of any previous
`
`iterations. As such, there is nothing in Cole that discloses creating a list of acceptable
`
`or unacceptable configurations for the specific electronic device, nor is there
`
`anything in Cole that discloses previously determining and maintaining such a list.
`
`See Section V.B.1, above.
`
`Thus, the Petition should be denied because it fails to show the required
`
`“compar[[ing]/[e]] the determined component and information specifying at least
`
`one additional component currently implemented in the electronic device with at
`
`least one of [[a]/[the]] list of known acceptable configurations for the electronic
`
`14
`
`Page 17 of 24
`
`

`

`IPR2019-00056
`U.S. Patent 6,467,088
`
`device and [[a]/[the]] list of known unacceptable configurations for the electronic
`
`device”, in its proposed Ground 2.
`
`C. The Petition fails to Prove Obviousness of Any Dependent Claim
`
`The deficiencies of the Petition articulated above concerning the challenged
`
`independent claims apply also taint the analysis of the challenged dependent claims.
`
`Accordingly, the Petition should be denied in its entirety.
`
`VI. THE PETITION REDUNDANTLY CHALLENGES ALL CLAIMS
`(CLAIMS 1-21)
`
`The Petition redundantly challenges all of the claims of the ’088 Patent,
`
`without providing any alleged justification for such inefficient redundancies. As the
`
`Board has previously explained, “multiple grounds, which are presented in a
`
`redundant manner by a petitioner who makes no meaningful distinction between
`
`them, are contrary to the regulatory and statutory mandates, and therefore are not all
`
`entitled to consideration.” See Liberty Mut. Ins. Co. v. Progressive Cas. Ins. Co., No.
`
`CBM2012-00003, Paper 7 (P.T.A.B. Oct. 25, 2012). Such redundancies place a
`
`significant burden on both the Board and the patent owner, causing unnecessary
`
`delay, compounding costs to all parties involved, and compromising the ability to
`
`complete review within the statutory deadline. Id.; 37 C.F.R. § 42.1(b); see also 37
`
`C.F.R. § 42.108. As such, analyzing the petition and eliminating redundant grounds
`
`streamlines the proceeding. Idle Free Sys., Inc. v. Bergstrom, Inc., IPR2012-00027,
`
`15
`
`Page 18 of 24
`
`

`

`IPR2019-00056
`U.S. Patent 6,467,088
`
`Paper 26 at 4-5 (P.T.A.B. June 11, 2013); Liberty Mut., CBM2012-00003, Paper 7
`
`at 2.
`
`The Petition presents grounds that are vertically redundant with respect to
`
`each other. Vertical redundancy “involves a plurality of prior art applied both in
`
`partial combination and in full combination. In the former case, fewer references
`
`than the entire combination are sufficient to render a claim obvious, and in the latter
`
`case the entire combination is relied on to render the same claim obvious.” Liberty
`
`Mut., CBM2012-00003, Paper 7 at 3. In such instances where reliance on a
`
`combination and separate reliance on a portion thereof are both alleged to
`
`sufficiently present a prima facie case of invalidity, “[t]here must be an explanation
`
`of why the reliance in part may be the stronger assertion as applied in certain
`
`instances and why the reliance in whole may also be the stronger assertion in other
`
`instances.” Id. (emphasis in original).
`
`If one of the alternative grounds is better from all perspectives, then the Board
`
`should only consider the stronger ground and not burden the Patent Owner and the
`
`Board with the weaker ground. Further, if there is no difference in the grounds, the
`
`Petitioner should assert only one of the grounds. Id. at 12. “Only if the Petitioner
`
`reasonably articulates why each ground has strength and weakness relative to the
`
`other should both grounds be asserted for consideration.” Id. (emphasis added).
`
`Petitioner makes no effort to justify its vertically redundant theories by
`
`16
`
`Page 19 of 24
`
`

`

`IPR2019-00056
`U.S. Patent 6,467,088
`
`explaining why “the reliance in part [e.g., on the primary reference alone] may be
`
`the stronger assertion as applied in certain instances and why the reliance in whole
`
`[e.g., the full combination of identified references] may also be the stronger assertion
`
`in other instances.” Id. Indeed, the Petition does not even acknowledge the
`
`gamesmanship of hedging its bets through the redundancy of Grounds 1 and 2.
`
`The Board in Eizo Corp. v. Barco N.V.7 flatly rejected a similar attempt to
`
`hedge bets and unnecessarily multiply the work of both the Board and the Patent
`
`Owner. The Board there found insufficient the petitioner’s “conclusory assertion”
`
`that “[t]o the extent [the first prior art reference] may not explicitly teach” the
`
`limitation, the second prior art reference “explicitly teaches this limitation.” The
`
`Board explained that “such an assertion fails to resolve the exact differences sought
`
`to be derived from” the second prior art reference. Id.
`
`The Board’s precedential authority on these procedural issues is clear. Here,
`
`Petitioner impermissibly seeks the benefit of different bites at the apple, without
`
`providing a bi-directional explanation of the relative strengths and weaknesses of
`
`each redundantly offered ground. If Petitioner believes the obviousness challenges
`
`are necessary to addresses certain weaknesses of the challenge based on the Cole-
`
`
`
` IPR2014-00358, Paper 11 (P.T.A.B. July 23, 2014)
`
` 7
`
`17
`
`Page 20 of 24
`
`

`

`IPR2019-00056
`U.S. Patent 6,467,088
`
`MacInnis-Elgressy combination, Petitioner
`
`is obligated
`
`to articulate
`
`those
`
`weaknesses in the Petition itself. Because Petitioner chose to not offer such
`
`concessions, presumably for strategic reasons, the Board need not and should not
`
`consider the merits of the redundant challenges based on obviousness.
`
`VII. THE CONSTITUTIONALITY OF INTER PARTES REVIEW IS THE
`SUBJECT OF A PENDING APPEAL
`
`In a pending appeal to the Federal Circuit, Polaris Innovations Ltd. v.
`
`Kingston Technology, No. 18-01768, Dkt. No. 27, the patent owner Polaris argued
`
`that the Board’s appointment of administrative patent judges violates the
`
`Appointments Clause of Article II, and that their decisions must be set aside,
`
`because administrative patent judges are “appointed by the Secretary of Commerce,
`
`in consultation with the Director” of the USPTO, but without appointment by the
`
`President and confirmation by the Senate in violation of Article II, Section 2, Clause
`
`2 of the Constitution. Out of an abundance of caution, Patent Owner hereby adopts
`
`this constitutional challenge now to ensure the issue is preserved pending the appeal.
`
`VIII. CONCLUSION
`For at least the reasons set forth above, Uniloc respectfully requests that the
`
`18
`
`Page 21 of 24
`
`

`

`Board deny all challenges in the instant Petition.8
`
`Date: February 8, 2019
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`Respectfully submitted,
`
`IPR2019-00056
`U.S. Patent 6,467,088
`
`
`By: /s/ Brett A. Mangrum
`Brett A. Mangrum; Reg. No. 64,783
`Attorney for Patent Owner
`
`
`
` 8
`
` Patent Owner does not concede, and specifically denies, that there is any legitimacy
`to any arguments in the instant Petition that are not specifically addressed herein.
`
`19
`
`Page 22 of 24
`
`

`

`IPR2019-00056
`U.S. Patent 6,467,088
`
`CERTIFICATE OF COMPLIANCE
`
`Pursuant to 37 C.F.R. § 42.24(d), we certify that this Preliminary Response
`
`to Petition complies with the type-volume limitation of 37 C.F.R. § 42.24(b)(1)
`
`because it contains fewer than the limit of 14,000 words, as determined by the
`
`word-processing program used to prepare the brief, excluding the parts of the
`
`brief exempted by 37 C.F.R. § 42.24(a)(1).
`
`Date: February 8, 2019
`
`Respectfully submitted,
`
`By: /s/ Brett A. Mangrum
`Brett A. Mangrum; Reg. No. 64,783
`Attorney for Patent Owner
`
`i
`
`Page 23 of 24
`
`

`

`IPR2019-00056
`U.S. Patent 6,467,088
`
`CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
`
`Pursuant to 37 C.F.R. §§ 42.6(e), we certify that we served an electronic copy
`of the foregoing PATENT OWNER’S PRELIMINARY RESPONSE PURSUANT
`TO 37 C.F.R. § 42.107(a) along with any accompanying exhibits via the Patent
`Review Processing System (PRPS) to Petitioner’s counsel at the following
`addresses identified in the Petition’s consent to electronic service:
`
`Larissa S. Bifano (Reg. No. 59,051)
`James M. Heintz (Reg. No. 41,828)
`Michael Van Handel (Reg. No. 68,292)
`Apple-Uniloc-IPR@dlapiper.com
`
`Date: February 8, 2019
`
`Respectfully submitted,
`
`By: /s/ Brett A. Mangrum
`Brett A. Mangrum; Reg. No. 64,783
`Attorney for Patent Owner
`
`ii
`
`Page 24 of 24
`
`

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