`IPR2020-01506 (Pat. 10,469,614)
`
`
`
`UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
`_________________________
`
`BEFORE THE PATENT TRIAL AND APPEAL BOARD
`_________________________
` CODE200, UAB; TESO LT, UAB; METACLUSTER LT, UAB; AND
`OXYSALES, UAB,
`Petitioners
`v.
`LUMINATI NETWORKS LTD.,
`Patent Owner
`_________________________
`
`Case IPR2020-01506
`Patent 10,469,614
`_________________________
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`PATENT OWNER’S PRELIMINARY RESPONSE
`UNDER 37 CFR §42.107
`
`
`
`
`Mail Stop PATENT BOARD
`Patent Trial and Appeal Board
`United States Patent and Trademark Office
`P.O. Box 1450
`Alexandria, VA 22313-1450
`
`
`
`i
`
`
`
`Patent Owner’s Preliminary Response
`IPR2020-01506 (Pat. 10,469,614)
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`TABLE OF CONTENTS
`
`I.
`INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................ 1
`II. THE PETITION SHOULD BE DENIED BECAUSE THE PARALLEL
`DISTRICT COURT LITIGATION, WHICH ASSERTS THE SAME PRIOR
`ART AS THIS PETITION, BEGINS JURY SELECTION ON MAY 10,
`2021, OVER NINE MONTHS BEFORE A FINAL DETERMINATION
`WOULD BE EXPECTED IN THIS IPR .......................................................... 4
`A. FACTOR 1. ............................................................................................... 5
`B. FACTOR 2 ................................................................................................ 7
`C. FACTOR 3 ................................................................................................ 9
`D. FACTOR 4 .............................................................................................. 10
`E. FACTOR 5 .............................................................................................. 11
`F. FACTOR 6 .............................................................................................. 13
`III. OVERVIEW - THE ‘614 PATENT DISCLOSES AND CLAIMS
`METHODS USING A NOVEL NETWORK ARCHITECTURE THAT IS
`NOT DISCLOSED IN ANY OF THE PRIOR ART ADVANCED BY
`PETITIONERS ............................................................................................... 14
`A. THE CHALLENGED CLAIMS ............................................................. 18
`B. PRIORITY DATE ................................................................................... 18
`IV. PERSON OF ORDINARY SKILL IN THE ART ......................................... 18
`V. CLAIM CONSTRUCTION ............................................................................ 19
`VI. THE ART CITED IN THE ALLEGED GROUNDS ..................................... 21
`A. MITHYANTHA ...................................................................................... 21
`B. MORPHMIX ........................................................................................... 24
`VII. THE FAILED GROUNDS OF ALLEGED INVALIDITY ........................... 27
`A. GROUND 1: FAILURE OF MITHYANTHA TO ANTICIPATE
`CLAIM 1 ................................................................................................. 28
`B. GROUND 2: FAILURE OF MITHYANTHA + RFC 2616 +
`GENERAL KNOWLEDGE TO RENDER OBVIOUS CLAIM 1 ........ 31
`C. GROUND 3: FAILURE OF MORPHMIX TO ANTICIPATE CLAIM 1
` 32
`
`
`
`i
`
`
`
`Patent Owner’s Preliminary Response
`IPR2020-01506 (Pat. 10,469,614)
`
`
`
`
`
`
`D. GROUND 4: FAILURE OF MORPHMIX + RFC 2616 + GENERAL
`KNOWLEDGE TO RENDER OBVIOUS CLAIM 1 ............................ 36
`VIII. CONCLUSION ............................................................................................... 37
`
`
`
`
`ii
`
`
`
`
`
`Patent Owner’s Preliminary Response
`IPR2020-01506 (Pat. 10,469,614)
`
`
`
`TABLE OF AUTHORITIES
`
`
`
`
`
`AGENCY DECISIONS
`
`Apple Inc. v. Fintiv Inc.,
`IPR2020-00019, Paper 11 (PTAB March 20, 2020)
`(precedential, designated May 5, 2020) ........................................................... passim
`
`Google LLC f/k/a Google Inc. v. Personalized Media Communications, LLC,
`PTAB-IPR2020-00719, Paper 16 (PTAB August 31, 2020) ..................................... 8
`
`CASES
`
`KSR Int’l Co. v. Teleflex, Inc.
`550 U.S. 398, 127 S. Ct. 1727, 167 L. Ed. 2d 705 (2007) ................................ 31, 36
`
`RULES AND RULEMAKING
`PTAB Office Trial Practice Guide, July 2019 Update ....................................... 1, 25
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`iii
`
`
`
`
`
`Patent Owner’s Preliminary Response
`IPR2020-01506 (Pat. 10,469,614)
`
`
`
`2013
`
`2014
`
`2015
`
`2016
`
`2017
`
`Amended Rule 7.1 disclosure statement from Luminati v.
`Teso Lt UAB et al., E.D. Texas, Case No. 2:19-cv-00395-
`JRG ECF No. 55
`Code200’s Rule 7.1 Disclosure Statement in Luminati v.
`Code200 et al., E.D. Texas, Case No. 2:19-cv-00396-JRG
`ECF No. 28.
`Order Denying Motion to Stay pending Inter Partes Review;
`Luminati v. Teso Lt UAB et al., E.D. Texas, Case No. 2:19-
`cv-00395-JRG, ECF 157
`Claim Construction Opinion and Order issued December 7,
`2020; Luminati v. Teso Lt UAB et al., E.D. Texas, Case No.
`2:19-cv-00395-JRG, ECF 191
`Declaration of Thomas M. Dunham
`
`v
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`Patent Owner’s Preliminary Response
`IPR2020-01506 (Pat. 10,469,614)
`
`
`
`INTRODUCTION
`Patent Owner Luminati Networks, Ltd. (“Patent Owner”) hereby submits this
`
`
`
`I.
`
`Patent Owner Preliminary Response (“POPR”) in response to the Petition (Paper 5)
`
`filed by Code200, UAB; Teso LT, UAB; Metacluster Lt, UAB; and Oxysales, UAB
`
`(“Petitioners”) requesting inter partes review of claims 1, 2, 4-13, 15-20, 22-23, 25-
`
`26 and 28-29 (see Exhibit 1007, Petitioner’s list of challenged claims) of U.S. Patent
`
`No. 10,469,614 (“the ‘614 Patent”).
`
`Patent Owner respectfully requests that the Patent Trial and Appeal Board
`
`(“Board”) exercise its discretion and deny institution for two separate reasons.1
`
`First, the Petition should be dismissed based upon the Fintiv factors governing
`
`parallel district court proceedings.2 Specifically, the parallel district court litigation,
`
`which asserts exactly the same prior art as the Petition (See Ex. 2006, Stipulation
`
`
`1 In this POPR, Patent Owner is only addressing select issues demonstrating that
`review should not be instituted. In so doing, Patent Owner is not acquiescing to
`other issues raised by Petitioners and reserves the right to address all issues and to
`challenge all points raised by Petitioners in any future response if proceedings are
`instituted. See PTAB Office Trial Practice Guide, July 2019 Update, p. 18-21
`(Docket No. PTO-P-2019-0025, Federal Register 33925-33926).
`
` 2
`
` Apple Inc. v. Fintiv Inc., IPR2020-00019, Paper 11 (PTAB March 20, 2020)
`(precedential, designated May 5, 2020).
`
`
`
`
`1
`
`
`
`Patent Owner’s Preliminary Response
`IPR2020-01506 (Pat. 10,469,614)
`
`
`
`
`
`from IPR2020-01266, Paper No. 14 at ¶¶ 5-6), begins jury selection on May 10,3
`
`2021, over nine months before a final determination would be expected in this IPR.
`
`Additionally, the district court just issued its 24-page Claim Construction Opinion
`
`and Order on December 7, 2020 (e-mailed to the parties via ECF 191 on December
`
`8, 2020).4 Thus, the Court has already invested significant resources issuing its 24-
`
`page claim construction ruling months before an institution decision would even
`
`issue in this proceeding. For at least these reasons, the Fintiv factors
`
`overwhelmingly support the Board’s discretion to deny institution.
`
`Second, the Challenged Claims of the ‘614 Patent are strongly novel and non-
`
`obvious when compared to the prior art relied on by Petitioners. As explained below,
`
`Petitioners’ Grounds all depend upon a common premise – that the “plain and
`
`ordinary meanings” of all of the claim terms (such as “first server” and “client
`
`device”) are such that each of these distinctly-claimed devices would be met by
`
`“general purpose computers” such that a “server” and a “client” are determined by
`
`
`3 On November 5, 2020, the Court issued a docket entry resetting the jury selection
`date from May 3 to May 10, 2021. Ex. 2008.
`4 The Claim Construction Opinion and Order was issued by United States Magistrate
`Judge Hon. Roy S. Payne. Pursuant to E.D. Texas Local Rule CV-72 and 28 U.S.C.
`636 (b)(1)(C), the deadline for filing objections to the Magistrate’s claim
`construction order is 14-days after being served with a copy. Copies of the opening,
`responsive and reply claim construction briefs are being submitted herewith as
`Exhibits 2003, 2004, and 2005 to this POPR.
`
`
`
`2
`
`
`
`Patent Owner’s Preliminary Response
`IPR2020-01506 (Pat. 10,469,614)
`
`
`
`
`
`reference “only to the role being performed by the program for that particular
`
`connection.” (Paper 5 at 10-11). However, the role of a “client device” is
`
`distinguished from the server and is a device that makes requests of the server.
`
`Indeed, in discussing the Grounds, Petitioners equate these claim terms to ignore the
`
`express limitations recited in the claims.
`
`Claim 1 (the only independent claim), recites a method for use with a specific
`
`architecture arranged as depicted below:
`
` First Server < - > Client Device < - > Web Server
`
`Petitioners concede this point, expressly stating that “the ‘client device’ –
`
`after it is confirmed as available based on its utilization of resources – acts as an
`
`intermediary to retrieve from a web server content requested by a ‘first server’…”
`
`(Paper 5 at 8).
`
`Yet the two primary references relied upon by Petitioners operate using
`
`significantly different architectures (depicted below), each thereby failing to achieve
`
`the advantages realized by the method of the ‘614 claims:
`
`Mithyantha: Client < - > Appliance < - > Server
`
`Morphmix: Peer < - > Peer < - > Server
`
`As explained below, because the primary references relied upon by Petitioners
`
`operate using different architectures than the method of Challenged Claim 1, they
`
`
`
`3
`
`
`
`Patent Owner’s Preliminary Response
`IPR2020-01506 (Pat. 10,469,614)
`
`
`
`
`
`each fail to anticipate Claim 1. Further, the alleged combinations set forth in
`
`Grounds 2 and 4 fail to render obvious Claim 1 for at least the same reasons.
`
`
`
`II. THE PETITION SHOULD BE DENIED BECAUSE THE PARALLEL
`DISTRICT COURT LITIGATION, WHICH ASSERTS THE SAME
`PRIOR ART AS THIS PETITION, BEGINS JURY SELECTION ON
`MAY 10, 2021, OVER NINE MONTHS BEFORE A FINAL
`DETERMINATION WOULD BE EXPECTED IN THIS IPR
`Petitioners voluntarily raised the parallel Eastern District of Texas
`
`proceedings (Case No. 2:19-cv-00395-JRG) (“the 395 District Court case”) (Paper
`
`5 at page 5, Section III) as an issue, and argue that the Fintiv factors do not compel
`
`a decision to deny institution. The Fintiv factors, however, substantially favor a
`
`decision to deny institution because the 395 District Court case involves exactly the
`
`same prior art and all but two dependent claims of the ‘614 Patent challenged here
`
`are also asserted in the litigation. Paper 5 at 7. The district court and parties have
`
`also expended substantial resources advancing the litigation, with the Court’s Claim
`
`Construction Opinion and Order just issuing on December 7, 2020. Ex. 2016.
`
`Additionally, while Petitioners argue that petitioner Code200’s status as not
`
`having been sued for infringement of the ‘614 Patent bodes in favor of institution
`
`(Paper 5, pages 5 and 7-8), the close corporate relationship between Code200 and
`
`the remaining Petitioners has not been fully disclosed to the Board. When that close
`
`relationship is considered (they are parent and multiple sister subsidiaries, all with
`
`
`
`4
`
`
`
`Patent Owner’s Preliminary Response
`IPR2020-01506 (Pat. 10,469,614)
`
`
`
`
`
`direct or indirect common or overlapping owners - Ex. 2007), it renders Petitioners’
`
`arguments unpersuasive, if not misleading.
`
`A. FACTOR 1.
`Fintiv factor 1 is “whether the court granted a stay or evidence exists that one
`
`may be granted if a proceeding is instituted.”
`
`On October 1, 2020, Petitioners (excluding Code200, which is not a party to
`
`the 395 District Court case) filed a sealed opposed motion to stay the 395 District
`
`Court case pending the inter partes reviews in which they concede as a general rule
`
`that such stays are not granted. See Ex. 2001 public/redacted version (“Oxylabs is
`
`aware that this Court typically does not grant a stay pending IPRs not yet instituted.”)
`
`The Court recently denied Petitioner’s motion as premature. See Order signed
`
`October 29, 2020, filed October 30, 2020, ECF 157 (Ex. 2015). The Court held that
`
`“a stay of these proceedings in advance of the PTAB’s decision on whether or not
`
`to institute inter partes review of any of the Asserted Patents should be denied.”
`
`The Court further ordered that the Defendants could refile the motion but only
`
`after the Board’s institution decision on the last of the patents to be acted upon by
`
`the Board:
`
`“Accordingly, the Motion is DENIED WITHOUT PREJUDICE to
`
`refiling of the same, which shall be permitted within fourteen (14) days
`
`
`
`5
`
`
`
`
`
`
`Patent Owner’s Preliminary Response
`IPR2020-01506 (Pat. 10,469,614)
`
`
`
`following the PTAB’s institution decision regarding the last of the
`
`patents-in-suit to be acted upon by the PTAB.”
`
`Id. at 3.
`
`In summary, the Court: (i) denied a stay before an institution decision by the
`
`Board; (ii) denied Defendants’ ability to seek a stay until after an institution decision
`
`issues as to all of the district court patents involved under Board review; and (iii) has
`
`not indicated one way or the other whether a stay is likely to be granted at that time.
`
`Further, Petitioners have also mischaracterized the briefing in the prior
`
`litigation proceeding. Patent Owner filed the complaint for the 395 District Court
`
`case on December 6, 2019. Patent Owner then filed a motion to consolidate in the
`
`then pending case of Luminati Networks Ltd. v. UAB Tesonet et. al., Case No. 2:18-
`
`cv-299 (“Tesonet Case”), ECF 305 at 5, seeking a new trial date to be held as early
`
`as July 2020 to accelerate the date by which Patent Owner’s ‘614 Patent
`
`infringement claims would be tried. Petitioners Teso and Metacluster opposed that
`
`motion by arguing that a trial date for this action in 2021 was more realistic (Tesonet
`
`Case, ECF 317 at 5).
`
`Given that the Court has not granted a stay and would not likely grant a stay
`
`given the lateness of the Petition (and, further, the additional lateness that would be
`
`
`
`6
`
`
`
`Patent Owner’s Preliminary Response
`IPR2020-01506 (Pat. 10,469,614)
`
`
`
`
`
`associated with another round of briefing in the 395 District Court Case on any
`
`renewed motion to stay), this factor favors denial of institution.
`
`B. FACTOR 2
`Fintiv factor 2 is the “proximity of the court’s trial date to the Board’s
`
`projected statutory deadline for a final written decision.”
`
`The date for jury selection in the 395 District Court case is May 10, 2021. See
`
`November 5, 2020 docket entry, Exhibit 2008.
`
`In contrast, the date for the Board’s projected final written decision is: (i)
`
`Patent Owner’s POPR filing date of December 9, 2020; (ii) plus two-to-three months
`
`for an estimated institution decision; (iii) plus a year more for a final determination,
`
`the final written decision would be expected on February 9, 2022 or later. This is
`
`approximately nine months after jury selection in the 395 District Court case.5
`
`As discussed above in Factor 1, Petitioners’ discussion about extensions
`
`requested by Patent Owner in prior district court cases mischaracterizes the positions
`
`taken by Petitioner and Patent Owner. Moreover, Petitioners’ one-sentence
`
`
`5 The Board should also consider the co-pending IPRs addressing the other patents
`asserted in the 395 District Court case. While those petitions (IPR2020-01266
`involving USP 10,257,319 and IPR2020-01358 involving USP 10,484,510) were
`filed before this Petition, the overlapping issues (prior art, Markman Order and the
`common trial and trial date) makes consideration of the institution decision on all
`three IPRs relevant to one another, including the fact that a final determination in
`this IPR would not be expected until approximately nine months after jury selection
`in the 395 District Court case.
`
`
`
`7
`
`
`
`Patent Owner’s Preliminary Response
`IPR2020-01506 (Pat. 10,469,614)
`
`
`
`
`
`reference to a potential COVID-19 trial delay (Paper 5 at 6) is also sheer speculation
`
`at this point, more than five months before jury selection is scheduled. The PTAB
`
`also declined to speculate on this point in another recent decision:
`
`“Petitioner further argues that the trial date may change because the
`COVID-19 pandemic has “significantly disrupted docket schedules
`including in Texas, which may cause delay of the trial that is still months
`away.” (Citation omitted)
`
`We understand Petitioner’s position, but we decline to speculate
`whether that date will change due to COVID-19 disruptions…”
`
`
`
`Google LLC f/k/a Google Inc. v. Personalized Media Communications, LLC PTAB-
`
`IPR2020-00719, Decision Denying Institution of Inter Partes Review, Paper 16 at
`
`11, August 31, 2020. That decision came among a series of Board decisions6
`
`denying institution because, in part, the final determination date would have been 10
`
`months after the district court trial would have taken place.
`
`In a November 20, 2020 Order issued in the Infernal Technology, LLC v.
`
`Sony Interactive case, E.D. Texas Chief Judge Gilstrap continued jury trials
`
`scheduled from December 2020 to February 2021, and sua sponte issued the Order
`
`in cases where motions for continuance had not been filed. The Order does not
`
`
`6 Board decisions denying institution on the same day involving related IPRs
`between the same parties occurred in IPR2020-00720, IPR2020-00722, IPR2020-
`00723 and IPR2020-00724.
`
`
`
`
`
`8
`
`
`
`Patent Owner’s Preliminary Response
`IPR2020-01506 (Pat. 10,469,614)
`
`
`
`
`
`impact the present parallel district court case which has a trial date scheduled
`
`outside of that time frame - May 10, 2021. See Exhibit 2008.
`
`The at least nine-month delay from the time jury selection begins in the 395
`
`District Court before an institution decision is due in this IPR strongly favors denial
`
`of institution.
`
`C. FACTOR 3
`Fintiv factor 3 is “investment in the parallel proceeding by the court and the
`
`parties.”
`
`The parallel district court case is not at an early stage, as Petitioners allege.
`
`Quite to the contrary. As of the time that Patent Owner’s POPR was filed in this
`
`case on December 9, 2020, the Court’s 24-page Claim Construction Opinion and
`
`Order had just issued on December 7, 2020 (e-mailed to the parties via ECF on
`
`December 8, 2020). Ex. 2016. According to the Court’s docket entry, the Markman
`
`hearing lasted 3 hours and 20 minutes, and involved both Court personnel and a
`
`court-appointed technical advisor. Thereafter, on December 7, 2020, the Court
`
`issued its Markman Order. Thus, the parties and the Court have already invested
`
`heavily in the district court case by briefing the Markman issues, preparing for and
`
`attending the Markman hearing, and issuing a 24-page Markman ruling months
`
`before an institution decision would be expected in this proceeding.
`
`
`
`
`
`9
`
`
`
`Patent Owner’s Preliminary Response
`IPR2020-01506 (Pat. 10,469,614)
`
`
`
`Moreover, as Petitioners acknowledge (Paper 5 at 7), expert discovery in the
`
`
`
`
`395 District Court case will close on January 21, 2021, which is approximately one
`
`and a half months after the POPR in this case is due (on December 9, 2020) and one
`
`and a half months before the three-months-after-POPR date for an institution
`
`decision to issue (March 9, 2021).7
`
`Taking the timing of this and the other two petitions into account, this factor
`
`strongly favors denial of institution.
`
`D. FACTOR 4
`Fintiv factor 4 is “overlap between issues raised in the petition and in the
`
`parallel proceeding.”
`
`The overlap between the issues raised in the petition and in the parallel
`
`proceeding is substantial. Petitioner challenges the ‘614 Patent claims based on two
`
`primary references, namely U.S. Patent No. 8,972,602 to Mithyantha (Ex. 1011) and
`
`Morphmix (Ex. 1012), and one secondary reference Internet Request for Comments,
`
`namely RFC 2616. See Paper 5, for example at pages 11-12. Petitioner identified
`
`all three of those pieces of prior art in its Invalidity Contentions served on Luminati
`
`in the 395 District Court case. (See Ex. 2006, Stipulation from IPR2020-01266,
`
`
`7 Fact discovery is set to close on December 14, 2020. The parties anticipate
`extending the date by one day to accommodate a witness deposition.
`
`
`
`10
`
`
`
`Patent Owner’s Preliminary Response
`IPR2020-01506 (Pat. 10,469,614)
`
`
`
`
`
`Paper No. 14 at ¶¶ 5-6). In fact, Petitioners do not even contest that the exact same
`
`prior art is asserted in the 395 District Court case as in this Petition.
`
`Petitioners’ arguments are thus limited to stating that while Luminati asserts
`
`claims 1-2, 4-7, 9-12, 15-20, 22-23, 25-26, 28-291 in the 395 District Court case, the
`
`Petition also challenges dependent claims 8 and 13, which are not at issue in the
`
`Lawsuit. Paper 5 at 7. This is not a significant difference, however. Only claim 1
`
`of the ‘614 Patent is independent. The Petition therefore does not challenge any
`
`other independent claim not asserted in the district court, because there are none.
`
`Because of the substantial overlap between the invalidity challenges in the
`
`395 District Court case and the Grounds asserted in the Petition, Factor 4 strongly
`
`favors denial of institution.
`
`E. FACTOR 5
`The fifth Fintiv factor is “whether the petitioner and the defendant in the
`
`parallel proceeding are the same party.” Three of the four petitioners, namely, Teso
`
`LT, Metacluster LT and Oxysales, are the defendants in the parallel 395 District
`
`Court case. This strongly favors a decision not to institute. The fourth petitioner,
`
`Code200, has not been sued by Luminati for infringement of the ‘614 Patent.
`
`However, the Petition’s suggestion that Code200 should therefore somehow be
`
`treated differently from the other Petitioners (Paper 5 at pages 5 and 7-8) is
`
`misleading in that it fails to acknowledge the close corporate relationship between
`
`
`
`11
`
`
`
`Patent Owner’s Preliminary Response
`IPR2020-01506 (Pat. 10,469,614)
`
`
`
`
`
`Code200 and the other defendants/petitioners. Specifically, Coretech LT is the
`
`parent company of the sister Petitioners (Teso LT, Code200, Metacluster and
`
`Oxysales). They were formed when Lithuanian company Tesonet changed its name
`
`to Teso LT and reorganized in 2018. See Exhibits 2013 and 2014. (Ex. 2007 –
`
`“Oxylabs further admits that, in 2018, Tesonet underwent a corporate restructuring
`
`and, as a result of that restructuring, (i) Tesonet’s name was changed to Teso LT,
`
`UAB and (ii) Metacluster, Oxysales, code200, UAB (“Code200”), and coretech lt,
`
`UAB (“Coretech”) were created. Oxylabs admits that Teso, Metacluster, Oxysales,
`
`Code200 and Coretech share, directly or indirectly, common or overlapping
`
`owners.”) All of the petitioners, including Code200, are therefore under common
`
`direct or indirect ownership and control. Id. That may explain why Code200
`
`inserted itself into the present IPR petition without having been sued for
`
`infringement of the ‘614 Patent – it is under the control of the petitioners’ common
`
`owner, and thus presumably did so for the benefit of its parent Coretech Lt and sister
`
`subsidiaries Teso LT, Metacluster and Oxysales who were sued for infringement of
`
`the ‘614 Patent. Exhibits 2013 and 2014. With that relationship in mind, the fact
`
`that Code200 has not been sued for infringement of the ‘614 Patent does not bode in
`
`favor of institution, as the Petition alleges. To the contrary, it cuts against institution,
`
`inasmuch as Code200 is related to the other petitioners and all of them are under the
`
`
`
`12
`
`
`
`Patent Owner’s Preliminary Response
`IPR2020-01506 (Pat. 10,469,614)
`
`
`
`
`
`control of their common parent company. That relationship, undisclosed and
`
`certainly not fully explained by Petitioners, is a substantial factual omission, and
`
`strongly favors denial of institution.8
`
`F. FACTOR 6
`Fintiv factor 6 is: “other circumstances that impact the Board’s exercise of its
`
`discretion, including the merits.”
`
`Petitioners argue that the merits are substantially in their favor, but this is not
`
`the case, as shown in the sections that follow. First, Petitioners’ reading of the claims
`
`is unreasonable – an issue that will be resolved by the 395 District Court case.
`
`Additionally, the asserted prior art is weak and does not render the ‘614 Patent
`
`unpatentable. Indeed, institution should be denied not only because of parallel
`
`litigation but also on the merits.
`
`
`
`
`
`
`8 If additional briefing is requested/permitted before an institution decision is made,
`the Petitioners should be required to affirmatively identify their current and past
`corporate relationship to one another, including Code200, and including ownership
`or control of one another. This should have been disclosed in the Petition, especially
`when Petitioners argued that Code200 should be treated differently than the other
`Petitioners simply because it is not a defendant in the 395 District Court case.
`
`
`
`13
`
`
`
`Patent Owner’s Preliminary Response
`IPR2020-01506 (Pat. 10,469,614)
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`III. OVERVIEW - THE ‘614 PATENT DISCLOSES AND CLAIMS
`METHODS USING A NOVEL NETWORK ARCHITECTURE THAT
`IS NOT DISCLOSED IN ANY OF THE PRIOR ART ADVANCED BY
`PETITIONERS
`The ‘614 Patent describes a novel system using “tunnel devices serving as
`
`intermediate devices” to fetch content from a web server. Ex. 1001 at Abstract. To
`
`achieve the advantages described in the specification, the ‘614 Patent claims
`
`methods utilizing a novel “first server – client device - web server” architecture,
`
`whereby a “client device” serves as a proxy between the “first server” and a “web
`
`server.”
`
`A problem in the art was the fact that certain websites with public information
`
`nevertheless create technological roadblocks to obtaining that information from
`
`certain requesting devices. For example, it is a routine practice of companies to
`
`obstruct their competitors from accessing the company’s otherwise publicly
`
`available pricing information. To overcome these artificial hinderances, the proxy
`
`service of the claims sends requests through one or more of a large group of proxy
`
`“client devices,” such as individual cell phone devices. As the proxy devices belong
`
`to real people who otherwise send such requests to target web servers as customers,
`
`the target will allow the queries and not artificially block them.
`
`
`
`14
`
`
`
`Patent Owner’s Preliminary Response
`IPR2020-01506 (Pat. 10,469,614)
`
`
`
`This problem was specifically mentioned in Plaintiff’s Opening Markman
`
`
`
`
`brief in the 395 District Court case: “Using this novel service permits a user to access
`
`content from a server that might otherwise block the request or return a fake
`
`response. For example, a retailer can use this service to request pricing data from a
`
`competitor by appearing to that competitor as a potential customer.” Ex. 2003 at 1.
`
`The ‘614 Patent explains that the novel methods disclosed relate to a “method
`
`for improving communication over the Internet by using intermediate nodes, and in
`
`particular, using devices that may doubly function as an end-user and as an
`
`intermediate node.” Ex. 2003 at 1:19-23. To create a new type of consumer-based
`
`network that never existed before, the ‘614 Patent employs “client devices” that
`
`operate as proxies. Id. at 83:15-25.
`
`Claim 1, the only claim expressly addressed in this POPR, recites a method
`
`for use over the unique “first server – client device – web server” architecture recited
`
`in the claim:
`
`1.
`
`A method for use with a resource associated with a criterion in a
`
`client device that communicates with a first server over the Internet, the client
`
`device is identified in the Internet using a first identifier and is associated with
`
`first and second state according to a utilization of the resource, the method
`
`comprising:
`
`
`
`15
`
`
`
`Patent Owner’s Preliminary Response
`IPR2020-01506 (Pat. 10,469,614)
`
`
`
`initiating, by the client device, communication with the first server over
`
`the Internet in response to connecting to the Internet, the communication
`
`comprises sending, by the client device, the first identifier to the first server
`
`over the Internet;
`
`when connected
`
`to
`
`the Internet, periodically or continuously
`
`determining whether the resource utilization satisfies the criterion;
`
`responsive to the determining that the utilization of the resource
`
`satisfies the criterion, shifting to the first state or staying in the first state;
`
`responsive to the determining that the utilization of the resource does
`
`not satisfy the criterion, shifting to the second state or staying in the second
`
`state;
`
`responsive to being in the first state, receiving, by the client device, a
`
`request from the first server; and
`
`performing a task, by the client device, in response to the receiving of
`
`the request from the first server,
`
`wherein the method is further configured for fetching over the Internet
`
`a first content identified by a first content identifier from a web server that is
`
`distinct from the first server, and the task comprising:
`
`16
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`Patent Owner’s Preliminary Response
`IPR2020-01506 (Pat. 10,469,614)
`
`
`
`receiving, by the client device, the first content identifier from the first
`
`server;
`
`sending, by the client device, the first content identifier to the web
`
`server;
`
`receiving, by the client device, the first content from the web server in
`
`response to the sending of the first content identifier; and
`
`sending, by the client device, the received first content to the first
`
`server.
`
`It is clear from Claim 1 that the method, which is performed “by the client
`
`device,” comprises inter alia:
`
`
`
`- “receiving, by the client device, the first content identifier from the
`
`first server”
`
`
`
`- “sending, by the client device, the first content identifier to the web
`
`server”
`
`
`
`- “receiving, by the client device, the first content from the web server
`
`…”; and
`
`- “sending, by the client device, the received first content to the first
`
`server”
`
`
`
`17
`
`
`
`Patent Owner’s Preliminary Response
`IPR2020-01506 (Pat. 10,469,614)
`
`
`
`The unique arrangement of the devices recited in the claim, together with the
`
`
`
`
`specific steps that are recited, serve to differentiate the ‘614 Challenged Claims from
`
`prior art systems and to achieve the advantages of the inventions.
`
`A. THE CHALLENGED CLAIMS
`The ‘614 Patent contains 29 claims, with only claim 1 being independent. The
`
`Petition challenges claims 1-2, 4-13, 15-20, 22-23, 25-26 and 28-29 of the ‘614
`
`Patent. In the 395 District Court case, Patent Owner is asserting claims 1-2, 4-7, 9-
`
`12, 15-20, 22-23, 25-26 and 28-29. Thus, there is complete overlap regarding the
`
`independent claim. Further, only dependent claims 8 and 13 are at issue in the
`
`Petition but not in the 395 District Court case.
`
`B. PRIORITY DATE
`The ‘614 Patent claims priority back through a chain of continuation
`
`applications and one divisional application to provisional application number
`
`61/870,815 filed August 28, 2013. Petitioners have not contested (for purposes of
`
`the Petition) this priority date. (Paper 5 at 9).
`
`IV. PERSON OF ORDINARY SKILL IN THE ART
`Patent Owner submits that a person of ordinary skill in the art (“POSA”) in
`
`the field of the ‘614 Patent (such as Dr. Thomas Rhyne whose declaration is
`
`concurrently submitted as Exhibit 2012) would be an individual who, as of August
`
`28, 2013, the filing date of the provisional application, had a Master’s Degree or
`
`
`
`18
`
`
`
`Patent Owner’s Preliminary Response
`IPR2020-01506 (Pat. 10,469,614)
`
`
`
`
`
`higher in the field of Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or Computer
`
`Science or as of that time had a Bachelor’s Degree in the same fields and two or
`
`more years of experience in Internet Communications.
`
`Petitioner’s proposed qualifications of a POSA are not materially different
`
`(Paper 5 at 12), at least in terms of affecting a decision as to whether to institute inter
`
`partes review of the Challenged Claims.
`
`V. CLAIM CONSTRUCTION
`The Petition states that “[t]he claim terms at issue in the Challenged Claims
`
`require no express claim construction, as the pla