throbber
Paper No. 19
`
`
`
`
`
`
`UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
`____________
`
`BEFORE THE PATENT TRIAL AND APPEAL BOARD
`____________
`
`APPLE INC.,
`Petitioner,
`
`v.
`
`COREPHOTONICS, LTD.,
`Patent Owner.
`____________
`
`Case No. IPR2020-00878
`U.S. Patent No. 10,330,897
`____________
`
`
`PATENT OWNER’S SUR-REPLY
`
`

`

`Case No. IPR2020-00878
`U.S. Patent No. 10,330,897
`
`TABLE OF CONTENTS
`
`Corephotonics’ Arguments Are Not Foreclosed by Limitations in
`
`The Konno and Mercado Patents Do Not Show that the Proposed
`
`INTRODUCTION .................................................................. 1
`I.
`II. GROUND 2 – OGINO IN VIEW OF BAREAU ....................... 1
`A. Apple Fails to Demonstrate that the Proposed Design Is
`Manufacturable Using Any Technique ............................................ 1
`B.
`Other Claims or by Unsuccessful Arguments in Another IPR ........ 3
`C.
`Design Is “Useful” .......................................................................... 5
`D. Apple Fails to Show the Preferred Embodiments Are Not
`“Finished” or Manufacturable ....................................................... 10
`E.
`Apple’s New Untimely Design Should Be Disregarded ............... 11
`III. GROUND 3 – OGINO IN VIEW OF BAREAU AND
`KINGSLAKE ....................................................................... 13
`A. Apple Provides No Articulable Motivation for Changing the
`Image-Side Surface from Concave to Convex .............................. 13
`B.
`Dr. Sasián’s Zemax Analysis Remains Unreliable ........................ 16
`IV. GROUND 4 – CHEN IN VIEW OF IWASAKI AND BEICH . 18
`The Proposed Combination Is Not Manufacturable ..................... 18
`A.
`B.
`the ’897 Patent and Unreliable ...................................................... 22
`CONCLUSION .................................................................... 30
`
`Dr. Sasián’s Calculations Are Contrary to the Disclosures of
`
`V.
`
`
`
`i
`
`

`

`Case No. IPR2020-00878
`U.S. Patent No. 10,330,897
`
`Cases
`
`TABLE OF AUTHORITIES
`
`Ariosa Diagnostics v. Verinata Health, Inc.,
`805 F.3d 1359 (Fed. Cir. 2015) ................................................................ 13
`
`General Plastic Industrial Co., Ltd. v. Canon Kabushiki Kaisha,
`IPR2016-01357, Paper 16 (PTAB Nov. 14, 2016) .................................. 13
`
`Intelligent Bio-Sys., Inc. v. Illumina Cambridge Ltd.,
`821 F.3d 1359 (Fed. Cir. 2016) ................................................................ 12
`
`Wasica Fin. GmbH v. Contl. Automotive Sys., Inc.,
`853 F.3d 1272 (Fed. Cir. 2017) ................................................................ 12
`
`Statutes
`
`
`
`35 U.S.C. § 312 ............................................................................................ 12
`
`
`
`
`
`
`ii
`
`

`

`Case No. IPR2020-00878
`U.S. Patent No. 10,330,897
`
`PATENT OWNER’S EXHIBIT LIST
`
`Description
`Declaration of Tom D. Milster, Ph.D.
`Curriculum Vitae of Tom D. Milster, Ph.D.
`Deposition transcript of José Sasián, January 22, 2021
`José Sasián, Introduction to Lens Design (2019)
`Peter Clark, “Mobile platform optical design,” Proc. SPIE
`9293, International Optical Design Conference 2017,
`92931M (17 December 2014)
`Symmons and Schaub, Field Guide to Molded Optics
`(2016)
`G. Beall, “By Design: Part design 106 – Corner radiuses,”
`Plastics Today (199)
`Handbook of Optics, 2nd ed., vol. 2 (1995)
`Declaration of José Sasián in IPR2019-00030
`Declaration of Marc A. Fenster in Support of Motion to
`Appear Pro Hac Vice
`Declaration of James S. Tsuei in Support of Motion to Ap-
`pear Pro Hac Vice
`Deposition transcript of José Sasián, May 28, 2021
`
`Exhibit No
`2001
`2002
`2003
`2004
`2005
`
`2006
`
`2007
`
`2008
`2009
`2010
`
`2011
`
`2012
`
`iii
`
`

`

`Case No. IPR2020-00878
`U.S. Patent No. 10,330,897
`
`I.
`
`INTRODUCTION
`
`As set forth below, Apple’s reply fails to rebut the core arguments made
`
`in Corephotonics’ response. Moreover, the reply is rife with technical misun-
`
`derstandings, with unreliable or conclusory analysis, and with untimely new
`
`arguments. Grounds 2–4 of this IPR should be rejected.
`
`II. GROUND 2 – OGINO IN VIEW OF BAREAU
`
`A. Apple Fails to Demonstrate that the Proposed Design Is Manu-
`facturable Using Any Technique
`
`As explained in Corephotonics’ response, Apple’s combination of Ogino
`
`with Bareau rests on a lens design that cannot be manufactured. A lens that
`
`cannot be made cannot satisfy the limitations of the ’897 patent claims to a
`
`“lens assembly” comprising “a plurality of lens elements.” (Ex. 1001 at 8:22,
`
`9:26–27.) And even if it could, no POSITA would be motivated to design such
`
`an impossible lens. Apple’s reply suggests this argument “seems to rely on an
`
`implicit requirement of large-scale injection plastic molding.” (Paper 14 at 9.)
`
`Apple’s own expert has opined that Ogino’s lens would “preferably be made
`
`of plastic via injection molding.” (IPR2019-00030, Ex. 2009, Sasián Decl. at
`
`69.)
`
`1
`
`

`

`Case No. IPR2020-00878
`U.S. Patent No. 10,330,897
`
`But Apple’s reply profoundly misses the point made in Corephotonics’
`
`response. The point of Corephotonics’ response is that Apple’s proposed de-
`
`sign, with its edge thickness of 0.0394 mm, edge slope of 58.86°, center-to-
`
`edge ratio of 15.238, lack of oversizing, and sharp corners, cannot be success-
`
`fully made using any technique for lens manufacture, whether it be injection
`
`molding of plastic (Ex. 2001, ¶¶ 60, 62, 77–78, 103–108, 112, 117, 121), in-
`
`jection molding of glass (id., ¶¶ 60, 63, 103–108, 112, 117, 119, 120), grinding
`
`or polishing of glass (id., ¶¶ 60, 63, 104–107, 110, 117, 119, 120), diamond
`
`turning (id., ¶¶ 104, 107, 117, 120, 121), or any other technology (id., ¶¶ 106–
`
`107, 117).
`
`To rebut this evidence, it is not enough to say that Ogino is not limited to
`
`injection molded plastic, as Apple does, or to argue that these claims should
`
`not be limited to specific center-to-edge thickness ratios taught in the ’897
`
`patent specification. Rather, presented with such detailed evidence that the
`
`proposed lens is contrary to the teachings of Dr. Sasián’s textbook, references
`
`that Apple itself relies on in its obviousness grounds, and the recognized limits
`
`of fabrication using any technique, it was incumbent on Apple to identify some
`
`technique that could be used to make the proposed lens, even in limited num-
`
`bers and at great cost. Apple does not even attempt to do so, instead attacking
`
`2
`
`

`

`Case No. IPR2020-00878
`U.S. Patent No. 10,330,897
`
`strawmen such as that Corephotonics argues the ’897 patent is limited to plas-
`
`tic injection molding or to mass production. (See Ex. 2012, Sasián Depo.at
`
`121:7–123:21 (when asked if he had pointed to any technique other than in-
`
`jection molding of plastic that could be used to manufacture these lenses, Dr.
`
`Sasián could only point to a discussion of glass polishing used to make the
`
`spherical glass lenses cited in a different Apple IPR, which he acknowledged
`
`is not “the most appropriate technique” for making aspheric surfaces like
`
`those in Ogino or Chen, aside from a type of glass “correcting plate” used in
`
`large telescopes.))
`
`B. Corephotonics’ Arguments Are Not Foreclosed by Limitations
`in Other Claims or by Unsuccessful Arguments in Another IPR
`
`Apple suggests that it is irrelevant whether the proposed lens could actu-
`
`ally be made, because the claims challenged under Ground 2 do not have a
`
`limitation for the L11/L1e ratio. (Paper 14 at 10–11.) That might be a pursua-
`
`sive argument if Apple were presenting a lens with L11/L1e of 4.0 or even
`
`5.0, but Apple’s lens has a ratio of 15.238! And this ratio is just one of several
`
`features, including edge thickness, edge slope, lack of oversizing, and sharp
`
`corners that make the proposed lens design profoundly unmanufacturable.
`
`Apple argues that Corephotonics’ argument is foreclosed by an argument
`
`it made against a POSITA combining Ogino with Beich in IPR2019-00030.
`
`3
`
`

`

`Case No. IPR2020-00878
`U.S. Patent No. 10,330,897
`
`What Apple neglects to mention is that Apple argued the opposite position in
`
`that IPR and that the Board rejected this argument from Corephotonics, ex-
`
`pressly finding that:
`
`Beich teaches that a lens designer should have a basic under-
`standing of the manufacturing process, which would include the
`limits for fabricating lens elements in an optical lens assem-
`bly. . . . We are persuaded that the information conveyed in Beich
`would have been understood, known, and applied by the ordinar-
`ily skilled lens designer . . . .
`
`(IPR2019-00030, Paper 32 at 18.) Moreover, Apple argues in this very IPR
`
`that a POSITA would have been motivated to apply Beich’s teachings con-
`
`cerning center-to-edge thickness ratio when modifying Ogino. (Paper 2 at 47–
`
`52.) Apple cannot have it both ways, successfully invalidating one Corepho-
`
`tonics patent on the grounds that a lens designer would consider manufactur-
`
`ability and seeking to do the same for some claims in Ground 3 of this very
`
`IPR, but then arguing Corephotonics cannot make arguments based upon
`
`manufacturability with respect to Ground 2.
`
`Moreover, even if Apple were to somehow change course, and argue a
`
`POSITA would not have been concerned with teachings such as those in
`
`Beich, Corephotonics manufacturability arguments for Ground 2 also rest on
`
`4
`
`

`

`Case No. IPR2020-00878
`U.S. Patent No. 10,330,897
`
`Dr. Sasián’s textbook, Exhibit 2004. (See Ex. 2001, Milster Decl., ¶¶ 106, 110,
`
`114, 118.) This textbook is titled “Introduction to Lens Design” (Ex. 2004),
`
`which strongly suggests that its teachings on manufacturability are within the
`
`ken of a POSITA lens designer. As Dr. Sasián acknowledged, this textbook
`
`teaches that both glass and plastic lenses must avoid sharp corners to prevent
`
`chipping and other damage. (Ex. 2012, Sasián Depo.at 119:4–120:4.)
`
`C. The Konno and Mercado Patents Do Not Show that the Pro-
`posed Design Is “Useful”
`
`Apple suggests that lens manufacturability is not necessary in the art be-
`
`cause of two published patents with purportedly “useful” lenses that purport-
`
`edly fail to meet the requirements of manufacturability. (Paper 14 at 14–15.)
`
`But Apple’s argument misunderstands these lens designs and the crucial way
`
`they differ from Apple’s proposed lens. While these patents show drawings of
`
`first lenses that appear to have narrow edges and sharp corners, a careful look
`
`at the ray traces shows that no light rays that form the image actually pass
`
`through the part of the first lenses close to these edges:
`
`5
`
`

`

`Case No. IPR2020-00878
`U.S. Patent No. 10,330,897
`
`(Ex. 1035, Fig. 11, excerpt enlarged; see Ex. 2012, Sasián Depo.at 111:18–
`
`
`
`112:19.)
`
`
`
`(Ex. 1036, Fig. 13, excerpt enlarged; see Ex. 2012, Sasián Depo.at 116:14–
`
`
`
`117:16.)
`
`6
`
`

`

`Case No. IPR2020-00878
`U.S. Patent No. 10,330,897
`
`In other words, the outer portions of these lens elements are outside of
`
`the “clear apertures” where the lens shape matters to formation of the lens.
`
`(See, Ex. 2001, Milster Decl., ¶¶ 101, 102; Ex. 2012, Sasián Depo.at 109:14–
`
`23, 111:11–17, 112:11–19.) While lens design software may have drawn the
`
`lenses with these sharp edges, a POSITA would understand that these sharp
`
`edges are not necessary to the function of the lens and would not actually be
`
`present. This is confirmed by Dr. Sasián’s own Zemax analysis of precisely
`
`the same lens (unmodified) from the Konno patent, which showed the first
`
`lens ending at the edge of the clear aperture and having a thick edge, not the
`
`sharp edge shown in the Konno figure Apple points to:
`
`7
`
`

`

`Case No. IPR2020-00878
`U.S. Patent No. 10,330,897
`
`
`
`(IPR2020-00906, Ex. 1021, Sasián Decl. at 31; see Ex. 2012, Sasián Depo. at
`
`108:17–109:13 (confirming this IPR2020-00906 declaration addresses the
`
`same Konno design as cited in the present IPR).) Dr. Sasián acknowledged
`
`this during his deposition. (Ex. 2012, Sasián Depo.at 113:7–114:9.) As Dr.
`
`Sasián further confirmed, a POSITA would understand that the plastic injec-
`
`tion-molded lenses taught by Konno would actually have a flange for mount-
`
`ing, rather than the sharp edges depicted. (Id. at 115:3–24.) Dr. Sasián
`
`confirmed that the Mercado lens would likewise incorporate a flange and have
`
`8
`
`

`

`Case No. IPR2020-00878
`U.S. Patent No. 10,330,897
`
`a shape different from that shown outside the clear aperture. (Ex. 2012, Sasián
`
`Depo.at 117:11–118:1.)
`
`The situation with Apple’s proposed lens is far different. As Corephoton-
`
`ics showed in its response, the rays that form the image in this proposed lens
`
`go all the way to the edge of the lens, and must do so to satisfy the claim
`
`elements, meaning that the clear aperture goes to the edge of the lens, and the
`
`lens must have the sharp edges to achieve the f-number of 2.8:
`
`(Ex. 2001, Milster Decl., ¶¶ 96–97.)
`
`
`
`In other words, the sharp edges in the figures from Konno and Mercado
`
`are artifacts of how the lens design software chose to draw the lenses outside
`
`the clear apertures, not features that would be present in a manufactured lens.
`
`9
`
`

`

`Case No. IPR2020-00878
`U.S. Patent No. 10,330,897
`
`The unmanufacturable sharp corners in Apple’s lenses, by contrast, must be
`
`present in the manufactured lens to satisfy the challenged claim elements.
`
`D. Apple Fails to Show the Preferred Embodiments Are Not “Fin-
`ished” or Manufacturable
`
`Apple tries to show that the Example 1 lens of the ’897 patent is “not a
`
`finished lens, suitable for manufacturing.” (Paper 14 at 17–18.) But it does
`
`not show evidence of any flaw in the lens that would prevent it from being
`
`manufactured using common techniques or from being a useful lens. Apple
`
`alleges that ’897 patent Example 1 “is not desensitized” and “suffers from
`
`serious ghost images that are focused on the image plane.” (Paper 14 at 18.)
`
`But as evidence for this, Apple cites only a single-sentence paragraph from
`
`Dr. Sasián’s reply declaration, with the conclusory statement that these prob-
`
`lems are present. (Ex. 1037, ¶ 22.) Dr. Sasián does not say how he knows or
`
`determined that these problems are present or how significant or “serious”
`
`these problems are. He does not mention whether these problems are present
`
`in the patent’s other examples. He certainly does not show evidence that a
`
`POSITA would consider these problems serious. This opinion amounts to little
`
`more than an ipse dixit that “Corephotonics’ own lens is bad,” and it should
`
`be disregarded in its single-sentence entirety.
`
`
`
`10
`
`

`

`Case No. IPR2020-00878
`U.S. Patent No. 10,330,897
`
`E. Apple’s New Untimely Design Should Be Disregarded
`
`As a last-ditch fallback, Apple offers a different way of combining Ogino
`
`with Bareau, presenting a lens design never mentioned in the Petition. (Paper
`
`14 at 19–22.)
`
`
`
`
`
`(Paper 14 at 19.) In creating this new lens, Dr. Sasián manually changed the
`
`thickness of the first lens element and performed steps in Zemax that turned
`
`off vignetting and that caused the location of the image plane to change, along
`
`with the conic constant of the first lens surface and 32 higher-order aspheric
`
`terms describing the lens surfaces. (Ex. 2012, Sasián Depo.at 113:7–114:9,
`
`133:5–134:2; Ex. 1037 at 40.) In short, this is a new lens design and a new
`
`purported combination of Ogino with Bareau.
`
`11
`
`

`

`Case No. IPR2020-00878
`U.S. Patent No. 10,330,897
`
`A complex lens design can have numerous problems that are not apparent
`
`to a lay reader and cannot be demonstrated without expert testimony, as evi-
`
`denced by the 25 pages of expert testimony that Corephotonics’ expert de-
`
`voted to Ground 2 as presented in the petition. (Ex. 2001 at 36–61.) The rules
`
`of IPRs, directed as they are to ensuring proceedings finish within the statu-
`
`tory deadlines, do not permit Corephotonics to marshal such evidence in re-
`
`sponse to a new design presented in reply. Accordingly, Apple’s reply was an
`
`opportunity for it to attempt to show that Corephotonics’ criticisms of the
`
`Ground 2 design presented in the petition were invalid, not an opportunity to
`
`use Corephotonics’ response as a roadmap for creating a new invalidity theory
`
`that Corephotonics is prevented by the rules from rebutting. See Intelligent
`
`Bio-Sys., Inc. v. Illumina Cambridge Ltd., 821 F.3d 1359, 1369 (Fed. Cir.
`
`2016) (“It is of the utmost importance that petitioners in the IPR proceedings
`
`adhere to the requirement that the initial petition identify ‘with particularity’
`
`the ‘evidence that supports the grounds for the challenge to each claim.’ 35
`
`U.S.C. § 312(a)(3).”); Wasica Fin. GmbH v. Contl. Automotive Sys., Inc., 853
`
`F.3d 1272, 1286 (Fed. Cir. 2017) (“Rather than explaining how its original
`
`petition was correct, Continental’s subsequent arguments amount to an en-
`
`tirely new theory of prima facie obviousness absent from the petition. Shifting
`
`12
`
`

`

`Case No. IPR2020-00878
`U.S. Patent No. 10,330,897
`
`arguments in this fashion is foreclosed by statute, our precedent, and Board
`
`guidelines.” Ariosa Diagnostics v. Verinata Health, Inc., 805 F.3d 1359, 1367
`
`(Fed. Cir. 2015) (holding that “a challenge can fail even if different evidence
`
`and arguments might have led to success”); see General Plastic Industrial
`
`Co., Ltd. v. Canon Kabushiki Kaisha, IPR2016-01357, Paper 16 at 9 (PTAB
`
`Nov. 14, 2016) (recognizing the injustice of petitioner being permitted to wait
`
`until after seeing patent owner’s arguments and then craft a new invalidity
`
`argument in response).
`
`III. GROUND 3 – OGINO IN VIEW OF BAREAU AND
`KINGSLAKE
`
`A. Apple Provides No Articulable Motivation for Changing the
`Image-Side Surface from Concave to Convex
`
`Apple compares Dr. Sasián’s change of the image-side surface of Ogino’s
`
`first lens from concave to convex to the change he made to Ogino’s second
`
`lens from biconcave to meniscus in IPR2018-01140. (Paper 14 at 22–23.) But
`
`the differences are substantial. While Corephotonics argued against Apple’s
`
`motivation to modify the Ogino second lens based upon Chen II in IPR2018-
`
`01140, at least Apple presented a cognizable theory of motivation for the
`
`change. Apple presented a reference, Chen II, that contained a meniscus lens.
`
`(IPR2018-01140, Paper 37, Final Written Decision at 33.) Its expert opined
`
`13
`
`

`

`Case No. IPR2020-00878
`U.S. Patent No. 10,330,897
`
`that a POSITA looking at Chen II would recognize that its meniscus second
`
`lens provided specific advantages that address specific purported deficiencies
`
`in Ogino’s design. (Id. at 34.) In other words, there was a specific reason,
`
`based upon specific disclosures in Chen II, for changing Ogino to satisfy the
`
`claim limitation in question. In light of these facts, the Board rejected Core-
`
`photonics arguments that were based on Ogino’s teaching of the benefits of
`
`the biconcave second lens. (Id. at 35.) Specifically, the Board argued that a
`
`POSITA could weigh the benefits of the biconcave second lens taught by
`
`Ogino against the benefits of a meniscus second lens purported shown in Chen
`
`II. (Id. at 36.) While Corephotonics disagrees with the conclusion, it was at
`
`least grounded in some way, however tenuous, on a lens that was shown in
`
`Chen II.
`
`Apple would take from this decision by the Board in IPR2018-01140—
`
`that it would have been obvious to change a specific lens surface from concave
`
`to convex based upon Chen II—the conclusion that all changes of lens shape
`
`between convex and concave are per se obvious. The Board made no such
`
`finding.
`
`Here, Apple proposes changing the image side surface of Ogino to con-
`
`vex, but it does not cite to a single reference that has such a convex image side
`
`14
`
`

`

`Case No. IPR2020-00878
`U.S. Patent No. 10,330,897
`
`surface or to anything in the prior art that would suggest that changing this
`
`surface from concave to convex would provide benefits. For that matter, Ap-
`
`ple does not identify any benefits that actually result from this change, whether
`
`those benefits were taught in the art or not.
`
`Moreover, Apple’s reply and the declaration of Dr. Sasián fail to explain
`
`how Dr. Sasián even arrived at the convex shape. As explained in Corepho-
`
`tonics’ response, the Zemax output in Dr. Sasián’s declaration shows that the
`
`radius of curvature for the image-side surface of the first lens in his modifica-
`
`tion to Ogino was fixed to have a value of -2.94377806, and thus the lens was
`
`fixed to have a convex surface (a negative radius for the image-side surface
`
`meaning it is convex):
`
`
`
`15
`
`

`

`Case No. IPR2020-00878
`U.S. Patent No. 10,330,897
`
`(Ex. 1003, Sasián Decl. at 111; Ex. 2003, Sasián Depo.at 49:20–50:16; Ex.
`
`2001, Milster Decl., ¶¶ 136–137.) This negative radius of curvature was “most
`
`likely” produced using an earlier Zemax optimization that he did not explain
`
`in his original declaration and that he could not recall any details of during his
`
`deposition. (Ex. 2003, Sasián Depo. at 50:18–53:9.) Dr. Sasián’s reply decla-
`
`ration sheds no further light on how or with what steps he obtained the nega-
`
`tive radius of curvature for the image-side surface of the first lens, beyond the
`
`vague statement that he “experiment[ed] with [sic] to see if a smaller f-number
`
`would also have been attainable for Example 5.” (See Ex. 1037, ¶¶ 31–32.)
`
`B. Dr. Sasián’s Zemax Analysis Remains Unreliable
`
`Dr. Sasián’s reply declaration and deposition raise other questions about
`
`the reliability of his Zemax analysis concerning this modification to Ogino.
`
`For example, Corephotonics noted in its response that Dr. Sasián reported
`
`multiple inconsistent values for the f-number in this modification. (Ex. 1003
`
`at 108 (giving both “2.12” and “2.45” as values for the f-number).) In an ap-
`
`parent attempt to clarify the issue, Dr. Sasián’s reply declaration purports to
`
`provide the true values of f-number (and of the related entrance pupil diameter
`
`ENPD). (Ex. 1037, ¶ 33, Paper 14 at 26.) But rather than provide a screenshot
`
`of Zemax showing the values, as he repeatedly did for other values throughout
`
`16
`
`

`

`Case No. IPR2020-00878
`U.S. Patent No. 10,330,897
`
`his declarations, he testified that he manually typed these “correct” values into
`
`his reply declaration by hand, as evidenced by the use of a font that Zemax
`
`does not use. (Ex. 2012, Sasián Depo.at 101:1–15.) Even more strangely, Dr.
`
`Sasián testified that when he manually typed the value of f-number 2.45 into
`
`his declaration, he was basing it on his memory of typing that number into
`
`Zemax a year earlier, rather than on any specific number displayed by Zemax.
`
`(Id. at 104:2–25.) While the difference between an f-number of 2.12 and 2.45
`
`may not matter to the ’897 claim limitations, it is relevant to the motivation to
`
`make Dr. Sasián’s modifications, as nothing in the record suggests a motiva-
`
`tion to reduce f-number to 2.12. More generally, the failure to accurately ex-
`
`plain how he did this Zemax work and what his results were further calls into
`
`question his claim that a POSITA would have been motivated to change the
`
`image-side surface from concave to convex.
`
`Nothing about a smaller f-number necessarily requires, or even benefits
`
`from, a convex image-side surface. Apple certainly provides no evidence of a
`
`connection. At most and giving him every benefit of the doubt, Dr. Sasián’s
`
`declarations show that a highly skilled paid expert, with enough experiments
`
`at ways to create a lens with reduced f-number, might arrive at some example
`
`that meets the claim limitation that is otherwise missing from the design. Put
`
`17
`
`

`

`Case No. IPR2020-00878
`U.S. Patent No. 10,330,897
`
`another way, it shows that a highly skilled lens designer whose job it was to
`
`turn Ogino’s lens into a lens that meets the challenged claims could do so.
`
`This does not show that a POSITA would have changed the surface from
`
`concave to convex or that the POSITA would have seen any motivation to
`
`make that change. Apple points to no such motivation anywhere in the prior
`
`art. Apple’s evidence falls far short of what is required to show obviousness.
`
`IV. GROUND 4 – CHEN IN VIEW OF IWASAKI AND BEICH
`
`A. The Proposed Combination Is Not Manufacturable
`
`Corephotonics’ response explained the serious limitations in manufactur-
`
`ing injection-molded lenses that a POSITA would understand make the mod-
`
`ified lens that Apple proposes—with a first lens that is only thousandths of a
`
`millimeter larger than the aperture stop—unmanufacturable. (Paper 12 at 63–
`
`68.) In response, Apple argues that it does not matter whether a lens could
`
`actually be manufactured, because “these manufacturing considerations are
`
`not included in claims 16 or 30” and because “a lens designer would not have
`
`been bound by these specific manufacturing considerations regardless of the
`
`purpose of the lens design.” (Paper 14 at 28.)
`
`This dismissal of manufacturing concerns is inconsistent with the re-
`
`quirements of the claims, with what a POSITA would have understood, and
`
`18
`
`

`

`Case No. IPR2020-00878
`U.S. Patent No. 10,330,897
`
`with Apple’s own stated motivation for modifying the Chen lens. Apple’s pe-
`
`tition stated that Chen example 1 “would preferably have been manufactured
`
`via injection molding” and gives that fact as a reason for combining with
`
`Beich, a “polymer injection molding reference[].” (Paper 2 at 68.) Apple’s
`
`reply does not dispute that its proposed combination uses injection molded
`
`plastic. Apple’s reply also does not dispute that any of the limitations of man-
`
`ufacturing tolerances for injection molding plastic, such as the tolerances for
`
`diameter, surface displacement, or rounding of corners are real or argue they
`
`are different than what is stated in the patent owner’s response. (See Paper 12
`
`at 66–67.) Apple also does not dispute that a first lens with semi-diameter less
`
`than the stop semi-diameter will lead to highly undesirable light leakage and
`
`a hazy image. (See Paper 12 at 66.)
`
`As a POSITA would recognize, claims 16 and 30 are all about manufac-
`
`turability considerations. The limitation that each claim adds is the require-
`
`ment that the first lens have a ratio L11/L1e less than 3. (Ex. 1001, ’897 patent
`
`at 9:22–25, 10:34–37.) As the ’897 patent specification explains, this require-
`
`ment is entirely about manufacturability. (Ex. 1001, ’897 patent at 2:41–50.)
`
`More generally, the claims of the ’897 patent are directed to “lens as-
`
`19
`
`

`

`Case No. IPR2020-00878
`U.S. Patent No. 10,330,897
`
`sembl[ies]” comprising a “plurality of lens elements,” i.e. to real physical ob-
`
`jects that can be made in the real world. (E.g., Ex. 1001, ’897 patent at 8:22,
`
`9:26–27. Apple does not suggest—and a POSITA would not understand—that
`
`the ’897 patent claims are directed to non-physical objects that can be simu-
`
`lated in a computer, but not actually made using the techniques known in the
`
`art. A POSITA reading claims 16 and 30 and the related discussion in the ’897
`
`patent specification would understand that they are directed to manufacturable
`
`lenses, not to lenses that happen to meet the L11/L1e ratio requirement but are
`
`completely unmanufacturable for other reasons.
`
`More significantly, Apple’s dismissal of manufacturability is contrary to
`
`the very motivation that its petition relied upon for combining Chen and Iwa-
`
`saki with Beich. As the petition stated, “a POSITA looking to implement op-
`
`tical element specifications using injection molding methods would look to
`
`Beich for guidance on limitations and parameters that affect lens manufactur-
`
`ability.” (Paper 2 at 67.) The very premise of Apple’s obviousness theory for
`
`these claims is that the POSITA is concerned with making the lens manufac-
`
`turable and for that very reason is looking to Beich. To suggest that the
`
`POSITA would not be concerned by the obvious and serious defects in the
`
`20
`
`

`

`Case No. IPR2020-00878
`U.S. Patent No. 10,330,897
`
`manufacturability of the proposed lens explained in Corephotonics’ response
`
`runs contrary to the core logic of Apple’s obviousness theory.
`
`The most basic problem with manufacturability of the proposed lens—
`
`the problem that the lens semi-diameter is specified as only 0.004 mm larger
`
`than the stop, but that manufacturing tolerance for the lens diameter is
`
`±0.020 mm—is a problem that is apparent from Beich, which recites exactly
`
`that limitation on the precision of the lens diameter in injection molding plas-
`
`tic. (Ex. 1007 at 7.) Based on the teachings of Beich alone, a POSITA would
`
`understand that setting the diameter of the first lens of Chen small enough to
`
`satisfy the Beich Center Thickness to Edge Thickness Ratio teaching will lead
`
`to lenses that leak light in the gap between the lens and the aperture stop, i.e.,
`
`to bad lenses. The POSITA would not be motivated to use a design that would
`
`lead to such defective lenses.
`
`Notably, this situation is different from the situation in IPR2019-00030,
`
`where Apple relied upon the same rules of thumb from Beich. There, Core-
`
`photonics pointed out that other lens elements of the proposed design violated
`
`other rules of thumb from Beich, and argued that meant that a POSITA would
`
`not have looked to Beich’s rules of thumb for the L11/L1e ratio. The Board
`
`rejected that argument, saying that a POSITA would look to supply a value
`
`21
`
`

`

`Case No. IPR2020-00878
`U.S. Patent No. 10,330,897
`
`not supplied by the Ogino reference, even if other values in Ogino violated
`
`Beich’s rules of thumb. (IPR2019-00030, Paper 32 at 46.) Here, however, the
`
`problem is not that different parameters in Chen violate Beich’s rules. Rather,
`
`the problem is that the very parameter that Apple bases on one of Beich’s
`
`rules, the first lens diameter, leads to a design that is plainly not manufactur-
`
`able under Beich’s rule that specifically addresses lens diameter, i.e. its
`
`“±0.020 mm” lens diameter tolerance. A POSITA looking to Beich’s rules of
`
`thumb would not choose a lens diameter is inconsistent with the very teaching
`
`on tolerances for lens diameter set forth in those rules.
`
`B. Dr. Sasián’s Calculations Are Contrary to the Disclosures of
`the ’897 Patent and Unreliable
`
`Apple also dismisses Corephotonics’ arguments concerning manufactur-
`
`ability on the grounds that the lenses in the ’897 patent purportedly fail to
`
`meet those criteria of manufacturability. But the calculations from Dr. Sasián
`
`that Apple relies on are contrary to the teachings of the ’897 patent and unre-
`
`liable.
`
`The ’897 patent provides three detailed examples of lens assemblies, and
`
`identifies the first lens elements in each of these assemblies as elements 102,
`
`202, and 302, respectively. (Ex. 1001, ’897 patent, Figs. 1A, 2A, 3A.) The
`
`22
`
`

`

`Case No. IPR2020-00878
`U.S. Patent No. 10,330,897
`
`specification supplies values of the L11/L1e ratio for each of these three ex-
`
`amples. (Ex. 1001, ’897 patent at 2:43–50.) In other words, the lens for the
`
`second example (202) satisfies the limitation of claims 16 and 30, with a value
`
`for L11/L1e of 2.916. The lenses of the first and third examples do not satisfy
`
`this limitation, but rather satisfy different, less demanding ratios that the spec-
`
`ification provides as examples. (Id. at 2:43–48.)
`
`Dr. Sasián’s reply declaration gives very different values for L11/L1e,
`
`saying that the first example is the only one with a ratio less than 3 (equal to
`
`2.99238 according to Dr. Sasián) and that the second example has a ratio of
`
`3.049, i.e. greater than 3. (Ex. 1037, ¶¶ 39–41.) In his deposition, Dr. Sasián
`
`testified that he was unaware that the patent provided values for these ratios
`
`or that his values were different from the patent’s:
`
`Q. So the numbers in the patent are a little different than the num-
`bers that you calculated. In particular, for Example Number 2,
`according to paragraph 40 of your declaration, you calculated an
`L11/L1e ratio of 3.049, whereas the patent says that ratio is
`2.916; would you agree?
`
`A. Could you please tell me the column and the line number on
`the –
`
`23
`
`

`

`Case No. IPR2020-00878
`U.S. Patent No. 10,330,897
`
`Q. In the patent? Yeah, so the number I’m referring to, 2.916,
`appears in Column 2, line 48.
`
`A. Okay. Thank you. Yeah, I see there is a difference.
`
`Q. Prior to the last few minutes, were you aware of this difference
`between the numbers that you gave for the ratio in your declara-
`tion and the number given for the ratio in the patent itself?
`
`A. No, I wasn’t aware of the difference.
`
`(Ex. 2012 at 88:13–89:15.) The fact t

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