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`UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
`_________________
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`BEFORE THE PATENT TRIAL AND APPEAL BOARD
`_________________
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`APPLE INC.,
`Petitioner
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`v.
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`LBT IP I LLC,
`Patent Owner
`_________________
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`Inter Partes Review Case No. IPR2020-01189
`U.S. Patent No. 8,497,774
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`PETITIONER APPLE INC.’S OPENING CLAIM CONSTRUCTION
`BRIEF ADDRESSING “A MULTITUDE OF THRESHOLD VALUES”
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`Inter Partes Review No. IPR2020-01189
`U.S. Patent No. 8,497,774
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`Pursuant to the Federal Circuit’s remand, the Board requested the Parties to
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`address whether—as a matter of claim construction—the “threshold values” in the
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`recited “multitude of threshold values” are limited to battery power threshold values
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`or whether they may also include GPS signal level threshold values. Paper 43, at 3.
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`As discussed below, any construction of “threshold values” must include both
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`battery power and GPS signal level threshold values.
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`The ’774 Patent indisputably resolves this issue because it describes an
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`embodiment that includes GPS signal level as part of the multitude of threshold
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`values:
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`In one embodiment, the accelerometer 130 activates upon one or more
`designated antenna(s), e.g., antennas 122a, 122b, detecting a first
`signal level, e.g., a low signal level or threshold value, as specified
`by, for instance, a user or system administrator.
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` Ex. 1001, 7:55-59. As the specification and Figures make clear, antennas 122a and
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`122b are the antennas that are utilized for “acquir[ing] a snapshot of receive
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`communication signal including location coordinates data.” Id., 10:41-44; see also
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`Fig. 1 (connecting antennas 122a/b to the “location tracking circuitry” and the
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`“signal detecting circuitry”). Any suggestion that these antennas are used to detect a
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`“low signal level or threshold value” of the battery would be nonsensical. That is not
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`how antennas operate. The ’774 Patent contemplates using GPS signal levels as part
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`of the multitude of threshold values because it recognizes that GPS is one of the
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`Inter Partes Review No. IPR2020-01189
`U.S. Patent No. 8,497,774
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`biggest draws on battery power. The ’774 Patent acknowledges that “GPS satellite
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`communication signals may be obstructed or partially blocked, hindering tracking
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`and monitoring capability.” Id., 3:2-3. In those situations, “a GPS transceiver [is]
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`receiving a weak GPS signal” and “the GPS transceiver is depleting battery power
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`in failed attempts to acquire communication signals from one or more … GPS
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`satellites.” Id., 2:4-8.
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`The ’774 Patent solves this problem by describing an embodiment where the
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`system will monitor and detect GPS signal levels and, when they reach a certain
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`threshold—e.g., they are too weak—the system will deactivate the GPS to save
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`power while activating the accelerometer to still provide navigation to the user. This
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`is the precise embodiment described by the ’774 Patent when it equates a low GPS
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`signal level with a threshold value. In this embodiment, when the system detects “a
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`low signal level or threshold value” of the GPS signals, the “electrical circuitry
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`associated with GPS signal acquisition … may be, for instance, placed on standby
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`or in a sleep mode” so that the system “[conserves] a battery level of the battery.”
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`Id., 7:55-8:3; see also 8:7-16; see also Id., 8:67-9:3. This solves the problem of the
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`‘774 patent, which is that “receiving a weak GPS signal … deplet[es]ing battery
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`power.” Id., 3:2-7. This is only possible if your “low signal level or threshold value”
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`is reading the strength of GPS signal levels.
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`Inter Partes Review No. IPR2020-01189
`U.S. Patent No. 8,497,774
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`The system utilizes the GPS signal threshold to know when to deactivate the
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`GPS circuitry to save power while also knowing when to activate accelerometer
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`circuitry to continue providing the user with navigation.
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`As described above, when GPS signal is not practicable, electronic
`device proximity measurements [e.g., accelerometer 130] provide
`differential location coordinate information to calculate coordinate
`information.
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`Ex. 1001, 9:14-16. Figure 3 illustrates how the invention of the ’774 Patent
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`utilizes
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`this GPS signal
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`level
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`threshold
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`to determine whether
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`to
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`activate/deactivate the GPS and the accelerometer circuitry:
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`Starting at Step S302, the GPS antennas acquire a snapshot of the receive
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`communication signal. Ex. 1001, Fig. 3, 10:38-52. The processor will then analyze
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`the snapshot information acquired by the GPS antennas in Step S304. Id. In Step
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`S306, “processing unit 104 determines a power level of receive communication
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`signal levels.” Id. It is at this point that the threshold values using the GPS signal are
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`analyzed and one of two actions are taken. The first possibility is that the GPS signal
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`levels show a threshold value indicating a weak GPS signal that causes the system
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`to activate its accelerometer: “In step 308, accelerometer 130 activates if a power
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`level of the receive communication signal is insufficient for processing.” Id.,
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`10:47-49; Fig. 3, Step S308; compare with 7:55-59 (describing a “low signal level
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`or threshold value” of the GPS receive communication signal as received by the
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`antenna); see also id., 8:7-16 (generally discussing determining if the GPS receive
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`communication signal is above a first signal level). The second possibility is that the
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`GPS signal levels show a threshold value indicating a strong GPS signal that causes
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`the system to reactive the GPS circuitry: “In another variation of step 312, upon
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`determining
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`receive communication signal of sufficient signal strength,
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`accelerometer 130 is deactivated and location tracking circuitry 114 are activated,
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`and processing unit 104 determines location coordinates from the receive
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`communication signal.” Id., 10:62-67; see also 10:58-62.
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`Notably, this embodiment would be inoperable if it solely looked at a
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`multitude of battery level thresholds. Indeed, the embodiment of Figure 3 has
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`nothing to do with examining a battery level because utilizing threshold values for
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`GPS signals is how one embodiment of the ’774 Patent accomplishes its goal of
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`preventing significant battery drain. See Ex. 1001, 3:2-9 (“GPS satellite
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`Inter Partes Review No. IPR2020-01189
`U.S. Patent No. 8,497,774
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`communication signals may be obstructed or partially blocked, hindering tracking
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`and monitoring capability. Not only is a GPS transceiver receiving a weak GPS
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`signal, but also the GPS transceiver is depleting battery power in failed attempts to
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`acquire communication signals from one or more … GPS satellites.”).
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`Utilizing only battery levels as the multitude of threshold values simply would
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`not work with the embodiment of Figure 3. For example, in the situation described
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`above, the battery charge level may be high (e.g., 90%+) but the GPS signal level is
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`low. If the system only looked at a multitude of battery threshold values (and
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`excluded GPS signal levels), it would never deactivate the GPS circuitry in the
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`Figure 3 embodiment, which would lead to a significant drain on the battery. Id.,
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`3:2-8. This would run counter to the very goal of the ’774 Patent. Id., 8:67-9:1 (“the
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`present invention conserves battery power”).
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`A construction of “multitude of threshold values” that excludes GPS signal
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`levels would read out this specific embodiment of the ’774 Patent. The Federal
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`Circuit has repeatedly admonished against such a construction noting that “a claim
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`construction excluding a preferred embodiment is rarely, if ever correct.” Sequoia
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`Tech., LLC v. Dell, Inc., 66 F.4th 1317, 1327 (Fed. Cir. 2023) (citing Kaufman v.
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`Microsoft Corp., 34 F.4th 1360, 1372 (Fed. Cir. 2022)). The only scenario in which
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`such a construction would be correct is if the plain language of the claim itself
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`excluded the preferred embodiment, and that situation is not present here. See, e.g.,
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`Inter Partes Review No. IPR2020-01189
`U.S. Patent No. 8,497,774
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`Pacing Techs., LLC v. Garmin Int'l, Inc., 778 F.3d 1021, 1026 (Fed. Cir. 2015)
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`(noting the preferred embodiment may only be excluded “where the plain language
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`of a limitation of the claim does not appear to cover that embodiment.”). The
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`language of claim 8 broadly describes “a multitude of threshold values” that are used
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`“to intermittently activate or deactivate the location tracking circuitry to conserve
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`power.” Ex. 1001, at claim 8. There is no limiting language. Nor is there any
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`language expressly excluding the preferred embodiment. This is because the claim
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`language tracks the exact embodiment described in columns 7-10 and Figure 3,
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`which expressly uses GPS signal values as “a threshold value” to “conserve[] battery
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`power. Id., 7:58, 8:67-9:5. It would be reversible error to construe “multitude of
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`threshold values” to be limited only to battery power because it would exclude this
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`embodiment.
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`Finally, the conclusion that the multitude of threshold values must include
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`both battery level and GPS signal level is crystalized by the fact that the ’774 Patent
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`only uses the phrase “threshold value” two times. One use of “threshold value”
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`appears in column 13 in a description of Figure 4 where the specification notes “[i]n
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`contrast to previous manufacturer tracking device power level settings, the present
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`invention has the capability of power level (e.g., battery power level 406)
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`adjustments includ[ing] multitude of threshold values.” Ex. 1001, 13:58-62. Here,
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`the patentee is equating the battery power levels with the multitude of threshold
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`Inter Partes Review No. IPR2020-01189
`U.S. Patent No. 8,497,774
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`values—a point that is not in dispute between the parties. The only other instance in
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`which “threshold value” appears is in column 7, which was extensively discussed
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`above: “accelerometer 130 activates upon one or more designated antenna(s) …
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`detecting a first signal level, e.g., a low signal level or threshold value ….” Id., 7:55-
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`58. In this instance, the patentee is clearly and indisputably equating a threshold
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`value to a low GPS signal level. Thus, the only two instances in which “threshold
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`values” are used include both battery level and GPS signal level. And as noted above,
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`there is no basis in the plain language of claim 8, or in the law, to exclude the
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`embodiment of “threshold values” that utilizes GPS signal levels.
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`Petitioner’s reply brief set forth uncontroverted evidence that Sakamoto
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`discloses a multitude of threshold values. Specifically, Petitioner submitted evidence
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`showing Sakamoto “in fact teaches at least four distinct threshold values for
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`changing the power level applied to the location tracking circuitry.” Paper 25, 16.
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`These four threshold values include “at least two battery level thresholds, and at least
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`two GPS signal level thresholds.” Id., at 17; see generally id., at 15-18. This is
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`precisely what is contemplated by the embodiments of the ‘774 Patent, none of
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`which are excluded by the express language of the claims. As such, Sakamoto
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`teaches the “multitude of threshold values” and renders claim 8 of the ‘774 Patent
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`invalid.
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`Dated: September 6, 2023
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`Inter Partes Review No. IPR2020-01189
`U.S. Patent No. 8,497,774
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`/s/ Adam P. Seitz
`Adam P. Seitz, Reg. No. 52,206
`adam.seitz@eriseip.com
`ERISE IP, P.A.
`7015 College Blvd, Suite 700
`Overland Park, KS 66211
`(913) 777-5600 Telephone
`(913) 777-5601 Facsimile
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`COUNSEL FOR PETITIONER
`APPLE INC.
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`8
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`Inter Partes Review No. IPR2020-01189
`U.S. Patent No. 8,497,774
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`CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE ON PATENT OWNER
`UNDER 37 C.F.R. § 42.105
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`Pursuant to 37 C.F.R. §§ 42.6(e) and 42.105, the undersigned certifies that on
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`September 6, 2023, a complete and entire copy of Petitioner Apple Inc.’s Opening
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`Claim Construction Brief Addressing “A Multitude Of Threshold Values” was
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`served via electronic filing with the Board and via Electronic Mail on the following
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`practitioners of record for Patent Owner:
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`Shaun D. Gregory (gregorysd@butzel.com)
`Mitchell S. Zajac (zajac@butzel.com)
`Brian S. Seal (seal@butzel.com)
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`/s/ Adam P. Seitz
`Adam P. Seitz, Reg. No. 52,206
`adam.seitz@eriseip.com
`ERISE IP, P.A.
`7015 College Blvd, Suite 700
`Overland Park, KS 66211
`(913) 777-5600 Telephone
`(913) 777-5601 Facsimile
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`COUNSEL FOR PETITIONER
`APPLE INC.
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