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`BEFORE THE OFFICE OF THE UNDER SECRETARY OF COMMERCE
`FOR INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY AND DIRECTOR OF THE UNITED
`STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
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`APPLE INC.,
`Petitioner,
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`v.
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`CPC PATENT TECHNOLOGIES PTY, LTD.,
`Patent Owner.
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`
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`Case IPR2022-00601
`U.S. Patent No. 9,269,208 B2
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`PATENT OWNER’S REQUEST FOR DIRECTOR REVIEW
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`Pursuant to the Revised Interim Rules Governing the Director Review Process
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`(Sept. 18, 2023), Patent Owner respectfully requests that the Commissioner review
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`the Final Written Decision (“FWD”) finding all claims of U.S. Patent No. 9,269,208
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`B2 (“the ‘208 Patent”) invalid. The issues warranting such review are:
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`1)
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`After it adopted for institution purposes a construction of the limitation
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`“accessibility attribute” previously urged by the Petitioner before the district court,
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`the Panel changed that construction materially to capture the prior art without
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`providing notice to the Patent Owner sufficient for due process under the
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`Administrative Procedures Act (“APA”), thereby prejudicing Patent Owner. See,
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`e.g., Qualcomm Inc. v. Intel Corp., 6 F.4th 1256, 1265 (Fed. Cir. 2021).
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`2)
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`The proposed modification of the Mathiassen reference with the non-
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`biometric teachings of Anderson does not result in a series of received biometric
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`signal entries that are mapped into an instruction used to populate the database as
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`part of an enrollment process, as required by the challenged claims.
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`3)
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`The Panel misapplied the law regarding the motivation to combine
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`references in recognizing the combination of the Mathiassen reference, on the one
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`hand, and the McKeeth and Anderson references, on the other hand, as valid
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`combinations.
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`A.
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`The Panel’s Changed Construction of “Accessibility Attribute”
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`1
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`The challenged claims of the ‘208 Patent require, inter alia, “a transmitter
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`sub-system comprising: a biometric sensor for receiving a biometric signal; means
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`for matching the biometric signal against members of the database of biometric
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`signatures to thereby output an accessibility attribute . . . .” See, e.g., Ex. 1001, claim
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`1 (emphasis added). The parties disputed the meaning of “accessibility attribute” in
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`a co-pending district court proceeding, during which Petitioner vociferously argued
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`that the term be construed as an “attribute that establishes whether and under which
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`conditions access to the controlled item should be granted to a user.” Ex. 2009 at 26
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`(emphasis added).
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`Petitioner argued that its proposed construction was “consistent with the
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`description of the invention throughout the specification and the claims, which goes
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`beyond mere matching—the binary decision of ‘yes’ or ‘no’—and instead describes
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`a system that provides for different types of access.” Id. The Petitioner then
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`described the “multi-tiered access” system taught in the ‘208 Patent, which “can only
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`be facilitated by the different types of fingerprint (or other biometric) input - i.e., the
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`number of presses and duration—recited elsewhere in the claim” See id.
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`To drive the point home, Petitioner reiterated that “[b]inary matching—
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`‘match/no match’—is not what the inventor was trying to invent. Instead, he sought
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`to provide a more sophisticated system with, inter alia, multiple types of access.” Id.
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`at 28. In contrast, according to Petitioner, CPC’s proposed plain and ordinary
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`2
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`meaning construction “would gut the clear definition given to it by the patentee, and
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`improperly broaden the scope of the claims to encompass mere matching, a feature
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`described as prior art.” Id.
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`As the Panel acknowledged in the FWD, it adopted, for purposes of institution
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`Petitioner’s construction “accessibility attribute,” which includes both the “whether”
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`and “under which conditions” components of that construction. See FWD at 25. In
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`doing so, the Panel confirmed that adopted the construction excludes “a ‘binary
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`decision’ to grant or not grant access to a locked structure or device.” Id. at 24.
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`
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`The principal reference relied upon by Petitioner is Mathiassen, which it
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`represented teaches a portable control processor configured to match the user’s
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`biometric signal against the database of biometric signatures. Petition at 17. If there
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`is a match, “access is granted (as opposed to denied) by opening (i.e. unlocking) the
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`car doors.” FWD at 49 (emphasis in original). This is clearly a binary operation, as
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`there are only two options—unlock the door if there is a match, or not if there is not.
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`There is no third option. This was effectively confirmed by Petitioner’s expert, who
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`acknowledged that “Mathiassen is silent as to any incremental access that a car
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`owner is granted, as opposed to any other user.” PO Sur-Reply at 22, citing Ex. 2013
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`at 66:1-67:9. In other words, Mathiassen teaches precisely the type of “mere
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`matching” that would “gut the clear definition” of “accessibility attribute” that
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`Petitioner warned against. See Ex. 2009 at 28.
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`3
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`That Petitioner originally agreed with this proposition is evident from its
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`Petition—“[a]pplying the [District] Court’s construction, Mathiassen’s ‘open door’
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`command as modified by McKeeth’s teaching of duress and alert conditions
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`teaches or renders obvious outputting an accessibility attribute, as claimed.” Petition
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`at 41 (emphasis added). Put another way, Mathiassen needs McKeeth’s teachings to
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`satisfy the “accessibility attribute” under the construction proposed by it, and
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`adopted by both the district court and the panel.
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`In dealing with Mathiassen in the FWD, the Panel inexplicably found that,
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`“[b]ased on the language of the claims and specification, the ‘accessibility attribute’
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`may include only an ‘access attribute,’ which is ‘unconditional,’” which is precisely
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`the type of binary (yes/no – lock/unlock) decision that Petitioner adamantly opposed
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`including in the very construction it successfully urged to the Panel for institution
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`purposes. See FWD at 25. Nonetheless, the Panel stated that its original construction
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`(again expressly excluding binary decisions) includes “unconditional access, if no
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`conditions are imposed.” Id. at 50. Notwithstanding this supposed inclusion, the
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`Panel felt compelled to “modify” the construction of “accessibility attribute” to
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`include the term “if any,” i.e., potentially none, such that the new construction reads
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`“an attribute that establishes whether and under which conditions, if any, access to
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`the controlled item should be granted.” Id. at 25 (emphasis added).
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`4
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`As a result of this obviously changed construction, the Panel went on to find
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`that Mathiassen, which it found to teach at most a lock/unlock operation, teaches the
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`accessibility attribute limitation. See FWD at 51. As such, Petitioner was allowed to
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`benefit from one construction of that limitation before the district court and before
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`the Panel on institution, but when that construction became inconvenient after
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`institution, the Panel gave Petitioner a different construction, allowing the unique
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`capture of prior art. More importantly, however, Patent Owner had no opportunity
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`to address the impropriety of this changed construction, as the Panel gave no
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`indication that there would be such a change.1
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`The Federal Circuit has ruled that a panel cannot, consistent with the APA,
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`issue a new claim construction after institution without giving the parties notice
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`thereof. Qualcomm, 6 F.4th at 1265. The Panel recognized as much in the FWD. See
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`FWD at 30, n.17 (citation omitted) (“the Board ‘must base its decision on arguments
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`1 A stark example of this lack of opportunity is the Panel’s reliance on claims 3 and
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`5 of the ‘208 Patent as purportedly supporting its changed construction. As the Panel
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`acknowledged, the parties “did not discuss specifically claim differentiation as part
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`of their claim construction analysis,” the precise purpose for the Panel’s reliance on
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`claim 3 and 5. See FWD at 30, n.17. As an aside, Patent Owner indeed disagrees that
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`claim 3 and 5 supports the Panel’s changed construction.
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`5
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`that were advanced by a party, and to which the opposing party was given a chance
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`to respond’”). Yet, as explained above, the Panel went on to ignore that
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`administrative guardrail, changing claim construction with no opportunity for Patent
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`Owner to respond thereto. Without its “if any” change to the construction of
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`“accessibility attribute,” which demonstrably allows for a binary access/no access
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`operation, the Panel could not have found Mathiassen teaches that limitation. As
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`such, the Panel’s belated claim construction modification is clearly prejudicial to
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`Patent Owner.2 There cannot, then, be any doubt that this changed construction,
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`which was neither proposed by Petitioner, nor addressable before the Panel by Patent
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`Owner, runs afoul of the holding in Qualcomm, 6 F.4th at 1265, and its progeny.
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`B.
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`The Mathiassen/Anderson Combination does not Yield a Series of
`Biometric Signals as Part of an Enrollment Process
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`“Illustrative” claim 1 requires receiving “a series of entries of the biometric
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`signal, said series being characterised according to at least one of the number of said
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`2 Of important note is that the Panel, after discussing the combination of the
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`Mathiassen and McKeeth references, failed to find that it was that combination that
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`teaches the “accessibility attribute” limitation – only that Mathiassen purportedly
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`does so. See FWD at 51. (“Based on Petitioner’s arguments and evidence as
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`summarized above, we determine Petitioner has sufficiently shown that Mathiassen
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`discloses or suggests” the “accessibility attribute” limitation).
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`6
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`entries and a duration of each said entry.” FWD at 10 (emphasis added). This
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`function is part of the “enrolling feature.” Id. at 38. The Panel concluded, according
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`to the plain language of the claim, “the number and/or duration of entries is based
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`on entries of a biometric signal, such as a finger press on a fingerprint sensor.” FWD
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`at 37 (emphasis added).
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`Petitioner admitted that “Mathiassen does not teach determining a duration of
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`each entry.” Petition at 3. Therefore, Petitioner relies upon Anderson for the
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`purported teaching of “receiving a series of fingerprint pressure pulses of varying
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`duration.” Id. at 54. The substitution proposed by the Petitioner, and found
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`invalidating by the Panel, is described in the FWD as follows:
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`A POSITA would have been motivated and found it obvious to substitute or
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`modify such directional finger movements [from Mathiassen] with a series of
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`presses of varying duration, as taught by Anderson, for instructing a command
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`at portable device 20.
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`FWD at 57.
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`As the Panel noted, Patent Owner argued in response to this proposed
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`combination that “Mathiassen has no teaching that either the ‘predefined sets of
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`finger movement sequences’ or the ‘command table’ constitute a series of received
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`biometric signal entries that are mapped into an instruction used to populate the
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`7
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`database as part of the enrollment process.” FWD at 60. Specifically, the Patent
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`Owner pointed out the following in the passage from the POR:
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`The ‘series’ requirement, according to Dr. Sears, is purportedly disclosed in
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`Mathiassen as ‘omni-directional finger movements across the sensor in two
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`dimensions.’ For the requirement of ‘mapping,’ according to Petitioner’s
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`expert, these movements are categorized according to ‘predefined sets of
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`finger movement sequences.’ A ‘command table’ is then used ‘to translate the
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`categorized finger movements into control signals.’ This has nothing to do
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`with user enrollment, as Mathiassen makes clear that the control signal are
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`‘for controlling the device.’ Mathiassen has no teaching that either the
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`‘predefined sets of finger movement sequences’ or the ‘command table’
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`constitute a series of received biometric signal entries that are mapped into an
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`instruction used to populate the database as part of the enrollment process,
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`as required by representative Claim 1.
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`POR at 30-31 (emphasis added) (internal citations omitted). See also Sur-Reply at
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`22-23 (“Mathiassen’s finger movements providing command functionality are pre-
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`defined, i.e., they are not part of the enrollment process”).
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`After expressly referencing this portion of the POR, the Panel entirely ignores
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`this point. Instead, the Panel simply adopts Petitioner’s arguments made in
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`connection with the authentication process, not the enrollment process. See FWD
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`8
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`at 61. Thus, even
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`if everything else Petitioner maintains about
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`the
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`Mathiassen/Anderson combination were true, that combination would still lack a
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`biometric signal series received as part of an enrollment process—a requirement that
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`the Panel expressly called out as being part of the challenged claims.
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`The Panel does reference Mathiassen’s master minutiae tables, which are part
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`of Mathiassen’s enrollment process. See, e.g., FWD at 55-56. However, as Patent
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`Owner has submitted, the master minutiae tables have nothing to do with
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`Mathiassen’s pre-stored finger movement sequences—the only feature from
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`Mathiassen that Petitioner proposes to modify with Anderson. See POR at 31. The
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`Panel, nonetheless, accepts Petitioner’s mapping of the prior art to this claim
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`limitation, including Petitioner’s reference to the master minutiae tables, which is
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`needed to tether the prior art’s teachings to an enrollment process, despite its
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`irrelevance to Mathiassen’s pre-stored finger movements. See FWD at 56. As the
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`Panel failed to provide any explanation as to how the Mathiassen/Anderson
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`combination relates in any relevant way to an enrollment process, the FWD, which
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`rejects Patent Owner’s argument on this issue must be vacated. See In re Nuvasive,
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`Inc., 842 F.3d 1376, 1383 (2016) (“it is not adequate to summarize and reject
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`arguments without explaining why the PTAB accepts the prevailing argument”).
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`Separately, even if one could get past the fact that the Mathiassen/Anderson
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`combination is unrelated to an enrollment process, it remains that Anderson does not
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`9
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`teach a “biometric” signal series as required by the challenged claims. According to
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`the Panel’s findings, “Anderson’s disclosed system inputs an access code ‘via
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`temporal variations in the amount of pressure applied to a touch interface’” FWD
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`at 44 (emphasis added). Further, Anderson’s system “may sense only ‘temporal
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`applications of pressure,’ relying on timing of the pressure applications for entry of
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`the access code.” Id. (emphasis in original). Petitioner’s own expert admitted that
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`pressure and duration patterns of the type taught in Anderson are knowledge-based,
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`i.e., non-biometric, making that point undisputed. PO Sur-Reply at 20 citing Sears
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`Dep. Tr. [Ex. 2010] at 18, 58:3-10.
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`The Panel, however, goes on to refer mistakenly to the purported teachings in
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`Anderson of a “fingerprint access code” (FWD at 44 (emphasis added)) and a “series
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`of fingerprint pressure pulses of varying duration” (id. at 57 (emphasis added)).
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`Based on these purported teachings, the Panel found that “there can be no reasonable
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`dispute that Anderson discloses input biometric signals that vary in number and
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`duration.” Id. at 57 (emphasis added). The problem with the Panel’s reasoning is that
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`the terms “fingerprint pressure pulses” and “fingerprint access code” appear
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`nowhere in Anderson, let alone in the portions of Anderson cited by the Panel as
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`supposedly teaching these features. See Anderson [Ex. 1006] at 6:45-54 & 7:28-47.
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`Rather, those terms were created by Petitioner’s expert and adopted by the Panel for
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`institution purposes. See POR at 24.
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`10
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`Anderson does teach “an optical scanner or thermal sensor for collecting an
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`image of the user’s fingerprint” that may optionally be part of the “digitizer pad 120”
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`used “as a touch interface.” FWD at 44 (emphasis added). This collection of “an”
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`image of a fingerprint is contradistinct from the claimed “series of entries of the
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`biometric signal” that are received as part of the enrollment process. FWD at 10
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`(emphasis added). At no point did Petitioner or the Panel identify any teaching in
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`Anderson that a series of biometric signals is received at all, let alone as part of an
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`enrollment process. As such, to the extent the Panel’s decision turns on a purported
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`teaching in Anderson of a “biometric” signal series, the decision must be reversed.3
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`C.
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`The Lack of a Motivation to Combine Mathiassen, on the One
`Hand, and Anderson and McKeeth, on the Other Hand
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`The Petitioner and the Panel turned to the combination of Mathiassen and
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`McKeeth to yield the “accessibility attribute” limitation, the latter of which “teaches
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`3 The Panel appears to contradict itself regarding Anderson’s teachings, stating that
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`Anderson only contributes “a number and duration of pulses as inputs,” while
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`Mathiassen and McKeeth allegedly provide a teaching of “biometric sensing.” FWD
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`at 58. Even if that is the true nature of the combination, despite the Panel’s great
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`pains in finding a biometric signal series in Anderson, as explained above, any
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`resulting biometric signal series from the Mathiassen/Anderson combination would
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`not be part of an enrollment process.
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`11
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`both a duress instruction and an alert instruction when there is no match.” FWD at
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`50. The panel gave short shrift to Patent Owner’s argument against a motivation to
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`combine, stating that, while there may have been “simpler alternative solutions
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`available,” “[i]t’s not necessary to show that a combination is the best option, only
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`that it be a suitable option.” FWD at 51 (emphasis in original). The Patent Owner’s
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`alternative to the proposed combination was to look to the functionality already
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`taught in Mathiassen, which was undeniably simpler, as the Petitioner’s expert
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`acknowledged. POR at 16-17; PO Sur-Reply at 5-6.
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`The lead case for the “suitable” proposition cited by the Panel, Intel Corp. v.
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`PACT XPP Schweiz AG, illustrates the risk for mischief in blindly applying the
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`“suitable” standard when evaluating the motivation to combine. The relevant portion
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`of that decision reads as follows:
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`‘[I]f a technique has been used to improve one device, and a person of
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`ordinary skill in the art would recognize that it would improve similar devices
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`in the same way, using the technique is obvious unless its actual application
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`is beyond his or her skill.’ This is the so-called ‘known-technique’ rationale.
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`And if there's a known technique to address a known problem using ‘prior art
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`elements according to their established functions,’ then there is a motivation
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`to combine.
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`Intel Corp. v. PACT XPP Schweiz AG, 61 F.4th 1373, 1380 (Fed. Cir. 2023).
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`12
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`The entirety of Petitioner’s reasoning upon which the Panel relies is that it
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`would have been obvious to a skilled person “to modify Mathiassen’s system to
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`grant access and issue a silent alarm when a user was under duress and deny access
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`and alert authorities of the access attempt, as taught by McKeeth, in addition to
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`unlocking a car door lock unconditionally, as taught by Mathiassen.” Petition at 23.
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`There is no discussion in the FWD, for example, of a “known technique” in
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`McKeeth, warranting the application of the rationale in Intel. Indeed, neither the
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`Petitioner nor the Panel pointed to anything magical about McKeeth specifically that
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`would have occasioned a skilled person to modify Mathiassen’s teachings therewith,
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`rather than using Mathiassen alone.
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`Further, this “suitability” test must be viewed in light of precedent cited by
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`the Panel requiring that that “a person of ordinary skill at the time of the invention
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`‘would have selected and combined those prior art elements in the normal course
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`of research and development to yield the claimed invention.’” FWD at 12 (emphasis
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`added) (citation omitted). As a corollary proposition, one cannot view the suitability
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`of a prior art combination through the lens of hindsight reconstruction, especially
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`where the functionality to be added already exists in the reference to be modified by
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`such combination. See Kinetic Concepts, Inc. v. Smith & Nephew, Inc., 688 F.3d
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`13
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`1342, 1369 (Fed. Cir. 2012).4 Intuitively, availing oneself of Mathiassen’s own
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`teachings is a simpler solution to the generation of a duress signal than looking to an
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`entirely different reference for such modification. Under the circumstances, absent
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`hindsight reconstruction, there is no motivation to combine Mathiassen with any
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`other reference, including McKeeth.
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`As to motivation to combine Mathiassen and Anderson, again, Patent Owner
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`contends that the simpler solution, were one to desire adding Anderson’s
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`functionality to Mathiassen to achieve the heightened security, would be to utilize
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`Mathiassen’s existing teachings alone. See, e.g., PO Sur-Reply at 4-8. The Panel,
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`however, simply reiterated that a combination need only be “suitable,” rejecting any
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`need to consider simplicity as an incentivizing factor when evaluating a purported
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`motivation to combine. FWD at 58. Simply labeling a combination as “suitable” in
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`a vacuum is insufficient to establish a motivation to combine references.
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`4 Patent Owner is cognizant of decisions such as in Elekta Limited v. ZAP Surgical
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`Systems, Inc., Case No. 21-1985, (Fed. Cir., September 21, 2023), wherein the
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`Federal Circuit ruled that the difficulty involved in combining references is not
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`dispositive on the issue of the motivation to combine. However, that decision and
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`those like it do not involve instances, such as here, where a reference sought to be
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`modified already contained the functionality sought in the combination proposed.
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`14
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`In the case of both prior art combinations discussed herein, neither Petitioner
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`nor the Panel disputed that: 1) Mathiassen already taught functionality that made
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`combination with McKeeth and/or Anderson unnecessary; and 2) relying on
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`Mathiassen alone was simpler than combining Mathiassen with another reference.
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`As the test is motivation to combine, as opposed to a potential to combine, it was
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`error simply to brush aside the simplicity of relying upon Mathiassen alone in favor
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`of what was purportedly “suitable.”5 This is especially the case given that the Patent
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`Owner submitted unrebutted expert testimony that, given Mathiassen’s existing
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`functionality, there would have been no reason to modify Mathiassen in the manner
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`Petitioner and its expert proposed. See POR at 17, citing Ex. 2011, ¶ 51. That the
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`Panel did not credit such testimony was error. See, e.g., Polaris Industries, Inc. v.
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`Arctic Cat, Inc., 882 F.3d 1056 (2018).
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`The three-issues discussed above, which were each mishandled by the Panel,
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`merit Director review and reversal of the FWD.
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`5 Petitioner did not propose a single-reference obviousness challenge based upon
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`Mathiassen, so whether Mathiassen by itself renders the challenged claims is
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`irrelevant. In any event, even availing oneself of Mathiassen’s teachings alone would
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`not yield the “duration” limitation. See FWD at 56-57.
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`15
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`Dated: October 27, 2023
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`Respectfully submitted by
`K&L GATES LLP,
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`By: /Darlene F. Ghavimi-Alagha/
`Darlene F. Ghavimi-Alagha
`Reg. No. 72,631
`K&L GATES LLP
`darlene.ghavimi@klgates.com
`(512) 482-6919
`2801 Via Fortuna, Suite 650
`Austin, Texas 78746
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`16
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`CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
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`
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`The undersigned hereby certifies that on October 27, 2023, a true and correct
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`copy of the foregoing Patent Owner’s Request for Director Review was submitted
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`in the Patent Trial and Appeal Case Tracking System (P-TACTS), and sent by
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`electronic mail to the following:
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`Director
`Email: Director_PTABDecision_Review@uspto.gov
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`Counsel for Petitioner:
`Jennifer C. Bailey
`Adam P. Seitz
`Email: Jennifer.Bailey@eriseip.com
`Email: Adam.Seitz@eriseip.com
`Email: PTAB@eriseip.com
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`By:
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`/Darlene F. Ghavimi-Alagha/
`Darlene F. Ghavimi-Alagha
`Reg. No. 72,631
`K&L GATES LLP
`2801 Via Fortuna, Suite 650
`Austin, Texas 78746
`darlene.ghavimi@klgates.com
`(512) 482-6919
`
`
`17
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