IN THE UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
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`In re Inter Partes Review of:
`U.S. Patent No. 8,954,432
`Issued: Feb. 10, 2015
`Application No.: 09/991,324
`Filing Date: Nov. 15, 2001
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`For: Users Tagging Users in Photos Online
`FILED VIA P-TACTS
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`PETITION FOR INTER PARTES REVIEW OF
`U.S. PATENT NO. 8,954,432
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`Petition for Inter Partes Review
`U.S. Patent No. 8,954,432
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`TABLE OF CONTENTS
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`I.
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`INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................... 1
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`II. MANDATORY NOTICES ............................................................................. 2
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`Real Parties-in-Interest .......................................................................... 2
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`Related Matters ...................................................................................... 2
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`Notice of Counsel and Service Information .......................................... 3
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`Fee for Inter Partes Review .................................................................. 4
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`Certification of Grounds for Standing ................................................... 4
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`III.
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`IDENTIFICATION OF CHALLENGES (37 C.F.R. § 42.104(b)) ................. 5
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`IV. BACKGROUND ............................................................................................. 6
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`Technology Overview ........................................................................... 6
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`The ’432 Patent ..................................................................................... 7
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`The Challenged Claims ......................................................................... 9
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`Prosecution History ............................................................................. 10
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`V.
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`LEVEL OF ORDINARY SKILL IN THE ART ........................................... 12
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`VI. CLAIM CONSTRUCTION .......................................................................... 13
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`“user identifier” / “user identification” (all claims) ............................ 13
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`“contacts” (claim 3) ............................................................................. 14
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`VII. PRIOR ART OVERVIEW ............................................................................ 15
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`Sharpe (EX1005) ................................................................................. 15
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`Eintracht (EX1006) ............................................................................. 17
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`Petition for Inter Partes Review
`U.S. Patent No. 8,954,432
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`Carey (EX1007) .................................................................................. 20
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`VIII. GROUND 1: SHARPE ALONE OR IN VIEW OF THE KNOWLEDGE OF
`A POSA RENDERS OBVIOUS CLAIMS 1, 3, 6-8 .................................... 22
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`Independent Claim 6 ........................................................................... 22
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`6[pre]: method for obtaining and displaying information
`relating to existence of at least one user in multi-user
`computer network .....................................................................22
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`6[a]: identifying users and assigning unique user
`identification to user .................................................................23
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`6[b]: storing unique user identifier in users database ..............25
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`6[c]: obtaining image data from uploading user and
`assigning unique image identifier to image data ......................27
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`6[d]: storing unique image identifier in images database .......27
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`6[e]: obtaining identification data from first tagging user
`comprising unique image identifier and pictured user
`unique identifier of user pictured in image data .......................29
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`6[f]: storing identification data from first tagging user in
`identifications database whereby user identifier may be
`associated with image identifiers and image identifier
`may be associated with users identifiers ...................................33
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`Dependent Claims 7-8 ......................................................................... 38
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`Claim 7: obtaining identification data from second
`tagging user and storing identification data in
`identifications database .............................................................38
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`Claim 8: receiving request for image from viewing user
`and displaying list of pictured users in image...........................39
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`Independent Claim 1 ........................................................................... 42
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`Petition for Inter Partes Review
`U.S. Patent No. 8,954,432
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`1[pre]: method for obtaining and displaying information
`relating to existence of at least one user in multi-user
`computer network .....................................................................42
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`1[a]: assigning unique user identifications to users and
`storing said identifications in users database ............................42
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`1[b]: obtaining image data from at least one uploading
`user ............................................................................................43
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`1[c]: assigning unique image identification to image data
`and storing said identification in images database ...................44
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`1[d]: receiving from first tagging user request to identify
`users in image data containing image identification and
`user identification of first tagging user .....................................44
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`1[e]: responsive to request presenting client interface to
`first tagging user configured to provide identifying
`information comprising user identification of first
`pictured user and image identification ......................................51
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`1[f]: obtaining identifying information from first tagging
`user ............................................................................................53
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`1[g]: storing association between first pictured user
`identification and image identification in identifications
`database that allows user identification to be associated
`with one or more image identifications as well as image
`identification to be associated with one or more user
`identifications ............................................................................54
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`1[h]: receiving from second tagging user request to
`identify users in image data wherein said request contains
`image identification and user identification of second
`tagging user ...............................................................................55
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`1[i]: responsive to second tagging user’s request,
`presenting client interface to second tagging user
`configured to provide identifying information comprising
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`U.S. Patent No. 8,954,432
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`additional pictured user identification of additional
`pictured user and image identification ......................................56
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`1[j]: obtaining said identifying information from second
`tagging user ...............................................................................56
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`1[k]: storing association between said additional
`pictured user identification and image identification in
`identifications database that allows user identification to
`be associated with one or more image identifications as
`well as an image identification to be associated with one
`or more user identification ........................................................57
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`1[l]: receiving request for image data from viewing user .......57
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`1[m]: displaying list of pictured users identified by first
`and second tagging user in image data .....................................58
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` Dependent Claim 3 .............................................................................. 58
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`Claim 3: responsive to first tagging user’s or second
`tagging user’s request to identify users in image,
`presenting interface enabling tagging user to select said
`pictured user’s identification from list of contacts
`associated with tagging user’s identification ............................58
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`IX. GROUND 2: SHARPE IN VIEW OF EINTRACHT RENDERS OBVIOUS
`CLAIMS 1-8 .................................................................................................. 59
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` Motivation to Combine ....................................................................... 59
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`Reasonable Expectation of Success .................................................... 62
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`Independent Claim 6 ........................................................................... 63
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` Dependent Claims 7-8 ......................................................................... 65
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`Claim 7 .....................................................................................65
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`Claim 8 .....................................................................................66
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`Petition for Inter Partes Review
`U.S. Patent No. 8,954,432
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`Independent Claim 1 ........................................................................... 68
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`“user identification” .................................................................68
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`“request contains … the user identification of said first
`tagging user” ............................................................................68
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`“second tagging user” ..............................................................70
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`“displaying list of pictured users” ............................................71
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`Dependent Claims 2-5 ......................................................................... 72
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`Claim 2: receiving location information that identifies
`coordinates of where pictured users appear within image ........72
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`Claim 3: responsive to first tagging user’s or second
`tagging user’s request to identify users in image,
`presenting interface enabling tagging user to select said
`pictured user’s identification from list of contacts
`associated with tagging user’s identification ............................73
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`Claim 4: wherein displaying list of pictured users
`further displays said coordinates of pictured users in
`image .........................................................................................73
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`Claim 5: upon obtaining pictured user identification,
`email sent to pictured users, said email notifying pictured
`users that their user identification has been associated
`with image .................................................................................74
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`X. GROUND 3: SHARPE IN VIEW OF CAREY RENDERS OBVIOUS
`CLAIM 3........................................................................................................ 75
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` Motivation to Combine ....................................................................... 75
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`Reasonable Expectation of Success .................................................... 77
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`Dependent Claim 3 .............................................................................. 78
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`XI. GROUND 4: SHARPE IN VIEW OF EINTRACHT AND CAREY
`RENDERS OBVIOUS CLAIM 3 ................................................................. 79
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`U.S. Patent No. 8,954,432
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`XII. SECONDARY CONSIDERATIONS ........................................................... 79
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`XIII. THE BOARD SHOULD REACH THE MERITS OF THIS PETITION ..... 79
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`Institution is appropriate under §325(d) .............................................. 79
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`Institution is appropriate under §314(a) .............................................. 80
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`XIV. CONCLUSION .............................................................................................. 80
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`Petition for Inter Partes Review
`U.S. Patent No. 8,954,432
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`TABLE OF AUTHORITIES
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` Page(s)
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`STATUTES
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`35 U.S.C.
`§ 101 ...................................................................................................................... 2
`§ 102(e) ................................................................................................................. 5
`§ 103 ...................................................................................................................... 5
`§ 314(a) ............................................................................................................... 80
`§ 325(d) ............................................................................................................... 79
`REGULATIONS
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`37 C.F.R.
`§ 42.10(b) .............................................................................................................. 4
`§ 42.15(a) .............................................................................................................. 4
`§ 42.100(b) .......................................................................................................... 13
`§ 42.104(a) ............................................................................................................ 4
`§ 42.104(b) ............................................................................................................ 5
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`Petition for Inter Partes Review
`U.S. Patent No. 8,954,432
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`EXHIBIT LIST
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`Exhibit
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`Description
`
`1001 U.S. Patent No. 8,954,432 (“’432 Patent”)
`
`1002
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`Prosecution History of U.S. Patent No. 8,954,432 (“’432 FH”)
`
`1003 Declaration of Dr. Benjamin B. Bederson (“Bederson”)
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`1004
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`Curriculum Vitae of Dr. Benjamin B. Bederson
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`1005 U.S. Patent No. 7,461,099 to Sharpe et al. (“Sharpe”)
`
`1006 U.S. Patent No. 6,687,878 to Eintracht et al. (“Eintracht”)
`
`1007 U.S. Patent No. 6,714,793 to Carey et al. (“Carey”)
`
`1008
`
`Prosecution History of U.S. Patent No. 10,628,480 (“’480 FH”)
`
`1009
`
`1010
`
`Excerpt from THE OXFORD AMERICAN DICTIONARY AND LANGUAGE
`GUIDE (1999), at 203 (contact).
`Excerpt from THE AMERICAN HERITAGE DICTIONARY (4th ed. 2001), at
`191 (contact).
`1011 Kuchinsky et al., FotoFile: A Consumer Multimedia Organization and
`Retrieval System, CHI ’99: PROCEEDINGS OF THE SIGCHI
`CONFERENCE ON HUMAN FACTORS IN COMPUTING SYSTEMS, 496-503
`(May 1999) (“FotoFile”)
`Reserved
`
`1012
`
`1013
`
`1014
`
`Reserved
`
`Reserved
`
`1015 Yuichi Yagawa et al., The Digital Album: A Personal File-tainment
`System, PROCEEDINGS OF THE THIRD IEEE INTERNATIONAL
`CONFERENCE ON MULTIMEDIA COMPUTING AND SYSTEMS
`
`
`
`viii
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`

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`Exhibit
`
`Petition for Inter Partes Review
`U.S. Patent No. 8,954,432
`
`
`Description
`
`1016
`
`1017
`
`(MULTIMEDIA ’96), June 17-23, 1996, at 433-39.
`Ben Shneiderman & Hyunmo Kang, Direct Annotation: A Drag-and-
`Drop Strategy for Labeling Photos, 2000 IEEE INTERNATIONAL
`CONFERENCE ON INFORMATION VISUALIZATION (IV ’00), July 19-21,
`2000.
`Benjamin B. Bederson et al., Pad++: A Zoomable Graphical
`Sketchpad For Exploring Alternate Interface Physics, 7 J. OF VISUAL
`LANGUAGES & COMPUTING 3 (1996).
`1018 Mark Roseman & Saul Greenberg, Building Real-Time Groupware
`with GroupKit, a Groupware Toolkit, 3 ACM TRANSACTIONS ON
`COMPUTER-HUMAN INTERACTION 1 (Mar. 1996), at 66-106.
`Excerpts from ROB KIRKLAND ET AL., DOMINO SYSTEM
`ADMINISTRATION (1999).
`Excerpts from DOROTHY BURKE & JANE CALABRIA, TEN MINUTE
`GUIDE TO LOTUS NOTES 4.6 (1997).
`Elizabeth F. Churchill, et al., Anchored Conversations: Chatting in the
`Context of a Document, CHI ’00: PROCEEDINGS OF THE SIGCHI
`CONFERENCE ON HUMAN FACTORS IN COMPUTING SYSTEMS, April
`2000, at 454-61.
`1022 Mark S. Ackerman & David W. McDonald, Answer Garden 2:
`Merging Organizational Memory with Collaborative Help, CSCW
`’96: PROCEEDINGS OF THE 1996 ACM CONFERENCE ON COMPUTER
`SUPPORTED COOPERATIVE WORK, Nov. 1996, at 97-105.
`1023 U.S. Patent No. 6,175,831 to Weinreich, et al.
`
`1019
`
`1020
`
`1021
`
`1025
`
`1024
`
`Excerpts from C.J. DATE, AN INTRODUCTION TO DATABASE SYSTEMS
`(6th ed. 1995).
`Excerpts from RANDY JAY YARGER ET AL., MYSQL & MSQL (1st ed.
`1999).
`1026 Ulla Merz & Roger King, DIRECT: A Query Facility for Multiple
`Databases, 12 ACM TRANSACTIONS ON INFORMATION SYSTEMS 4
`(Oct. 1994), at 339-59.
`
`
`
`ix
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`Exhibit
`
`Petition for Inter Partes Review
`U.S. Patent No. 8,954,432
`
`
`Description
`
`1027
`
`Excerpts from CHARLES DYE, ORACLE DISTRIBUTED SYSTEMS (1999).
`
`
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`x
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`I.
`
`INTRODUCTION
`
`Petition for Inter Partes Review
`U.S. Patent No. 8,954,432
`
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`Meta Platforms, Inc. (“Petitioner”) respectfully requests inter partes review
`
`of claims 1-8 of U.S. Patent No. 8,954,432 (EX1001, “’432 Patent”).
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`The ’432 Patent relates to photo tagging over a communications network—
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`enabling “users to supply and/or receive information about the existence of objects
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`within images.” EX1001, 1:16-17. The specification claims that prior art systems
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`failed to “provide a way to obtain additional information about a person or object
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`such as contact information or to locate additional photos of the person or object.”
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`Id., 3:29-31.
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`But such networked photo tagging systems were available at the time.
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`Consequently, the Applicant spent over a decade attempting to distinguish the
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`claimed method from the prior art, ultimately overcoming the Examiner’s rejections
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`only by amending the claims to include three separate databases. At allowance, the
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`Examiner remarked:
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`[W]hile the prior art … all teach the well-known concept of tagging
`users in a picture with metadata, it fails to teach the detailed claim
`language directed towards the use of three distinct and separate (as
`shown in Figure 1) databases (the users database, the images database,
`and identifications database).
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`EX1002, 935. Yet the use of multiple databases, particularly in a media storage
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`system, was by no means inventive in the early 2000s.
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`1
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`Petition for Inter Partes Review
`U.S. Patent No. 8,954,432
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`As U.S. Patent No. 7,461,099 (EX1005, “Sharpe”) expressly teaches,
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`
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`“information may be stored separately from the digital media items in a faster storage
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`medium.” EX1005, 4:2-3. “This allows the digital mediabase to be searched quickly
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`but does not use the expensive, fast access storage for space consuming digital media
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`files.” Id., 4:3-5.
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`Accordingly, Petitioner respectfully requests the Board institute review and
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`find all challenged claims of the ’432 Patent unpatentable.
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`II. MANDATORY NOTICES
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` Real Parties-in-Interest
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`The real parties-in-interest are Meta Platforms, Inc. (formerly Facebook, Inc.)
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`and Instagram, LLC.
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` Related Matters
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`U.S. Patent Office records indicate that the ’432 Patent is assigned to Angel
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`Technologies Group LLC (“PO”), which asserted the ’432 Patent in the following
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`litigation filed on October 26, 2021: Angel Techs. Group LLC v. Facebook, Inc. and
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`Instagram LLC, No. 2:21-cv-08459-CBM-JPR (C.D. Cal.). On June 30, 2022, the
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`district court found the asserted patents, including the ’432 Patent, invalid under
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`35 U.S.C. § 101 and dismissed the case. On July 29, 2022, PO filed a Notice of
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`Appeal. The case has been docketed as the following: Angel Techs. Group, LLC v.
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`Petition for Inter Partes Review
`U.S. Patent No. 8,954,432
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`Meta Platforms, Inc., No. 2022-2100 (Fed. Cir.). The opening appeal brief is
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`currently due on November 2, 2022.
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`Petitioner has concurrently filed petitions for inter partes review against
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`related family members U.S. Patent No. 9,959,291 (the “’291 Patent”), U.S. Patent
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`No. 10,417,275 (the “’275 Patent”), and U.S. Patent No. 10,628,480 (the “’480
`
`Patent”).
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` Notice of Counsel and Service Information
`
`Lead Counsel
`Lisa K. Nguyen (Reg. No. 58,018)
`lisa.nguyen@allenovery.com
`Postal & Hand-Delivery Address:
`Allen & Overy LLP
`550 High Street
`Palo Alto, CA 94301
`Telephone: (650) 388-1724
`
`Back-Up Counsel
`David M. Tennant (Reg. No. 48,362)
`david.tennant@allenovery.com
`Postal & Hand-Delivery Address:
`Allen & Overy LLP
`1101 New York Ave NW
`Washington, DC 20005
`Telephone: (202) 683-3891
`
`Alan M. Billharz (Reg. No. 79,532)
`alan.billharz@allenovery.com
`Postal & Hand-Delivery Address:
`Allen & Overy LLP
`1101 New York Avenue, NW
`Washington, DC 20005
`Telephone: (202) 683-3862
`
`Chitrajit Chandrashekar (Reg. No. L0896)
`chitrajit.chandrashekar@allenovery.com
`Postal & Hand-Delivery Address:
`Allen & Overy LLP
`550 High Street
`Palo Alto, CA 94301
`Telephone: (650) 388-1736
`
`
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`Petition for Inter Partes Review
`U.S. Patent No. 8,954,432
`
`
`Eric E. Lancaster (pro hac vice to be filed)
`eric.lancaster@allenovery.com
`Postal & Hand-Delivery Address:
`Allen & Overy LLP
`550 High Street
`Palo Alto, CA 94301
`Telephone: (650) 388-1700
`
`Sara L. Townsend (pro hac vice to be filed)
`sara.townsend@allenovery.com
`Postal & Hand-Delivery Address:
`Allen & Overy LLP
`550 High Street
`Palo Alto, CA 94301
`Telephone: (650) 388-1733
`
`
`A Power of Attorney is being filed concurrently with this Petition in accordance with
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`37 C.F.R. § 42.10(b). Petitioner consents to electronic service by e-mail.
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`
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`Fee for Inter Partes Review
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`The Director is authorized to charge the fee specified by 37 C.F.R. § 42.15(a)
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`to Deposit Account No. 604184.
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` Certification of Grounds for Standing
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`Petitioner certifies pursuant to 37 C.F.R. § 42.104(a) that the ’432 Patent is
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`available for inter partes review and that Petitioner is not barred or estopped from
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`requesting an inter partes review challenging the patent claims on the grounds
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`identified in this Petition.
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`IDENTIFICATION OF CHALLENGES (37 C.F.R. § 42.104(b))
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`Petition for Inter Partes Review
`U.S. Patent No. 8,954,432
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`III.
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`Ground 1: Claims 1, 3, and 6-8 are obvious under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. § 103
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`over Sharpe1 alone or in view of the knowledge of a person of ordinary skill in the
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`art.
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`Ground 2: Claims 1-8 are obvious under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. § 103 over
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`Sharpe in view of Eintracht.2
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`Ground 3: Claim 3 is obvious under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. § 103 over Sharpe
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`in view of Carey.3
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`Ground 4: Claim 3 is obvious under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. § 103 over Sharpe
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`in view of Eintracht and Carey.
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`1 U.S. Patent No. 7,461,099 to Sharpe et al. (EX1005, “Sharpe”) is prior art under
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`at least pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. § 102(e).
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`2 U.S. Patent No. 6,687,878 to Eintracht et al. (EX1006, “Eintracht”) is prior art
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`under at least pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. § 102(e).
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`3 U.S. Patent No. 6,714,793 to Carey et al. (EX1007, “Carey”) is prior art under at
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`least pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. § 102(e).
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`Petition for Inter Partes Review
`U.S. Patent No. 8,954,432
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`IV. BACKGROUND
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` Technology Overview
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`With the advent of practical digital photography in the 1990s, digital photo
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`management became an area of rapid growth. Bederson (EX1003) ¶¶99, 103-10.
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`By 2000, a wide range of technologies to organize, annotate, and share photos and
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`other kinds of media were well-known and in common use. Id. These technologies
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`were used personally and professionally, on personal computers, via the web, and
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`with different kinds of databases. Id. In particular, multiple systems for annotation
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`(or tagging) of photos were public by 2000. Id. Sharpe was one of those systems.
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`Id.
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`In parallel, the popularization of networking technologies in the 1990s drove
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`the development of rich collaborative applications called “groupware.” Id. ¶¶100,
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`111-17. Groupware was typically centralized and made available to users via a
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`server and a client application (e.g., web browser). Id. Lotus Notes and Microsoft
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`Outlook are two major examples, as well as early wikis. Id. Groupware included
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`multiple features that enabled users to work collaboratively on documents (including
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`images) and engage in discussions on team topics. Id. Annotation of images was
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`one such groupware feature, one discussed by Eintracht. Id.
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`As groupware and the Internet were growing in popularity in the 1990s, so
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`were social networks—services that allowed users to manage and interact with their
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`Petition for Inter Partes Review
`U.S. Patent No. 8,954,432
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`network of personal or business contacts. Id. ¶¶101, 118-21. Early examples of
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`social networks were AOL Instant Messenger and ICQ that each used “buddy lists”
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`to enable real-time chats among a group. Id. Carey is an AOL patent that discusses
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`these buddy lists. Id. By 2000, general online chatting had broadened to chatting
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`about documents. Id. Another use of social networks was to use one’s contacts or
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`groups to provide collaborative help. Id.
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`Thus, at the relevant time in 2000, it was obvious to develop software that
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`could use the features of all three technologies—photo management software,
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`groupware, and social networking.
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`
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`The ’432 Patent
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`The ’432 Patent describes a well-known system and method “for storing and
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`sharing images such as photographs via a communications network” like the
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`Internet. EX1001, Abstract, 5:57-64. The system and method “allows the
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`identification of objects such as persons within the photos” and allows users “to
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`automatically search for photos and/or certain people in photos.” Id.
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`Like other annotation systems, the ’432 Patent stores and retrieves
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`photographs using associations between users and photographs—specifically,
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`associations between their IDs. Id., 9:15-18, 9:30-33. The system identifies each
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`user using a user ID (or “unique user identifier”) and each photograph using an
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`image ID (or “unique image identifier”). Id. For example, the system identifies
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`Petition for Inter Partes Review
`U.S. Patent No. 8,954,432
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`“John Doe” using the unique user identifier “007,” and identifies his image
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`“my_image.jpg” using the image identifier of “ABCD.” Id., 7:37-55. The system
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`enables searches of the stored photographs using associations between the
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`identifiers. Id., 8:64-67. For example, the system could retrieve John Doe’s images
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`by searching for all image identifiers associated with John Doe’s user identifier,
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`“007.” See id., 7:58-8:4.
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`The embodiments claimed in the ’432 Patent rely on three databases: users
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`database, identifications database, and images database. Id., 6:59-65. Figure 2 of
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`the ’432 Patent depicts these databases as items 230, 240, and 250, respectively:
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`EX1001, Fig. 2
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`
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`The users database “receives, stores, and provides information about people
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`or any other objects identified within photos.” Id., 6:66-7:7. The images database
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`U.S. Patent No. 8,954,432
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`“receives and stores information about photos (e.g., image data) uploaded or
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`otherwise made accessible to the network by users.” Id., 7:8-24. The identifications
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`database “may receive, store, and provide information about relationships between
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`users and photos.” Id., 7:25-36.
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`As explained in the prosecution history section, the Office allowed the ’432
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`Patent claims on the basis of these three separate and distinct databases. However,
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`the ’432 Patent does not emphasize the three databases as an inventive aspect of the
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`system. Rather, the ’432 Patent expressly states “one or more databases could be
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`utilized to store the data utilized by the system,” noting that the three databases in
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`Figure 2 are just an example. Id., 6:61-65; see also 4:31-32 (“FIG. 2 is a schematic
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`diagram of databases that may be used to implement certain aspects of the
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`invention.”).4
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` The Challenged Claims
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`The challenged claims are entitled to an effective filing date of no earlier than
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`November 15, 2000.5
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`4 All emphasis added unless otherwise noted.
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`5 Petitioner does not concede that any challenged claim is entitled to this provisional
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`priority date. For the purpose of this Petition, it is unnecessary to resolve whether
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`the ’432 Patent is entitled to provisional priority.
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`Petition for Inter Partes Review
`U.S. Patent No. 8,954,432
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`The ’432 Patent has 8 claims, 2 independent claims and 6 dependent claims.
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`The claims generally require:
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`(1) identifying users and assigning a unique user identifier to a user,
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`(2) storing the unique user identifier in a users database,
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`(3) obtaining images and assigning a unique image identifier to an image,
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`(4) storing the unique image identifier in an images database,
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`(5) obtaining identification information comprising a unique image identifier
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`and a unique user identifier of a user in the image, and
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`(6) storing the identification data in an identifications database.
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`Independent claim 6 is the broadest claim. Independent claim 1 further
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`requires a second tagging user to identify another pictured user in the same image,
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`among other limitations.
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`
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`Prosecution History
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`Indicative of the well-known and crowded art, the Examiner issued many
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`rejections over many years resulting in multiple substantial revisions of the pending
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`claims. There was no finding of allowable subject matter based on those substantial
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`revisions.
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`After more than a decade of back and forth, the Examiner conducted an
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`interview with the Applicant on May 8, 2014, and proposed amendments to the
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`pending claims to make them allowable. EX1002, 885. Specifically, the Examiner
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`U.S. Patent No. 8,954,432
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`suggested adding language “directed towards the three different databases”
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`(identified as items 230, 240, and 250 in Figure 2).6 Id. Following the interview,
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`the Applicant amended the claims to replace instances of a generic “data store” with
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`a “users database,” “images database,” or “identifications database.” Id., 919-23.
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`The Examiner then allowed the pending claims on September 25, 2014. Id.,
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`928-36. The Examiner explained:
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`[W]hile the prior art … all teach the well-known concept of tagging
`users in picture with metadata, it fails to teach the detailed claim
`language directed towards the use of three distinct and separate (as
`shown in Figure 1) databases (the users database, the image database,
`and identifications database) that house the various pieces of
`information that are included in a tagging user’s request.
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`Id., 935. The ’432 Patent subsequently issued on February 10, 2015. Id., 966.
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`Years later, on August 9, 2019, the Applicant filed the application for U.S.
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`Patent No. 10,628,480 (the “’480 Patent”)—a great-grandchild of the ’432 Patent.
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`Pending claim 85 was the only claim to include any language of contact lists or
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`associations between users. On November 22, 2019, the Examiner rejected all the
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`original claims. Notably, the Examiner rejected claim 85 after finding that Carey
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`discloses contact lists:
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`6 None of the original claims recited a database. See EX1002, 44-60.
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`Petition for Inter Partes Review
`U.S. Patent No. 8,954,432
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`[T]he only support for the claimed associations between users is a
`contact list of a specific user (and the subsequent contacts of that user).
`Thus, the examiner is interpreting the claimed associations between
`users as simply contacts lists. The secondary reference of Carey
`clearly depicts displaying contact lists (which includes naming
`information) of a user (i.e. determining associations between a first user
`and a second user). The combination would result in the selectable
`naming information in Shneiderman to be from a contact list.
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`EX1008, 206 (emphasis original). The Applicant did not traverse the rejection.
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`V. LEVEL OF ORDINARY SKILL IN THE ART
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`A person of ordinary skill in the art (“POSA”) in 2000 would have had at least
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`a bachelor’s degree in computer science, electrical engineering, computer
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`engineering, or a similar technical field, with at least two years of experience in the
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`field of networked and Web-based media applications. Additional experience could
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`substitute for less education, and additional education could likewise substitute for
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`less experience. Bederson ¶¶36-42.
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`This Petition does not turn on this precise definition, and the challenged claim
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`would be unpatentable from the perspective of any reasonable person of ordinary
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`skill in the art at the relevant time. Id.
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`VI. CLAIM CONSTRUCTION
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`Petition for Inter Partes Review
`U.S. Patent No. 8,954,432
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`
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`The Board construes the claims “using the same claim construction standard
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`that would be used” in district courts. 37 C.F.R. §42.100(b). This Petition
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`establishes the prior art meets each of the claim limitations under any reasonable
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`construction.7
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`
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`“user identifier” / “user identification” (all claims)
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`The Board should give the terms “user id