Case 6:22-cv-00149 Document 1 Filed 02/10/22 Page 1 of 54
`
`IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
`FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS
`WACO DIVISION
`
`
`
`SPACETIME3D, INC.,
`
`
`
`
`
`APPLE INC.,
`
`
`
`
`
`
`Plaintiff,
`
` v.
`
`
`
`Defendant.
`
` Case No.
`
`JURY TRIAL DEMANDED
`
`
`COMPLAINT FOR PATENT INFRINGEMENT
`
`Plaintiff SpaceTime3D, Inc., complains against Defendant Apple Inc. as follows:
`
`1.
`
`THE PARTIES
`
`2.
`
`Plaintiff SpaceTime3D, Inc., is an application software company incorporated in
`
`New York, NY. Founded by Ezra Eddie Bakhash (“Mr. Bakhash”), SpaceTime3D delivers a
`
`seamless digital experience for consumers by using imaging and three-dimensional graphical
`
`technology to remove and expand the visual and spatial constraints on small screen displays.
`
`3.
`
`On information and belief, Defendant Apple Inc. is a California corporation with a
`
`principal place of business at One Apple Park Way, Cupertino, California 95014.
`
`4.
`
`On information and belief, Apple maintains regular and established places of
`
`business in Texas and in the Western District of Texas specifically, including offices at 5501 West
`
`Parmer Lane, Austin, Texas and 12535 Riata Vista Circle, Austin, Texas.
`
`5.
`
`Apple also operates retail establishments in the Western District of Texas, including
`
`retail stores in Barton Creek, Austin, Texas and Domain Northside, Austin, Texas.
`
`
`
`1
`
`APPLE 1052
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`

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`Case 6:22-cv-00149 Document 1 Filed 02/10/22 Page 2 of 54
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`6.
`
`Further, the construction of Apple’s new $1 billion, 3-million-square-foot Austin
`
`campus is underway. Apple has announced that this new 133-acre campus, located on or around
`
`West Parmer Lane and Dallas Drive, will “initially house 5,000 employees, with the capacity to
`
`grow to 15,000.”1 Apple has shared that employees will start moving into the new campus this
`
`year.2
`
`Fig. 1. Rendering of Apple’s $1 billion Austin campus from Apple’s April 26, 2021 press release.
`
`1 Apple, Apple expands in Austin (Nov. 20, 2019), https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2019/11/apple-
`expands-in-austin/ (accessed Feb. 9, 2022).
`2 Apple, Apple commits $430 billion in US Investments over five years (Apr. 26, 2021),
`https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2021/04/apple-commits-430-billion-in-us-investments-over-five-years/
`(accessed Feb. 9, 2022).
`
`2
`
`

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`Case 6:22-cv-00149 Document 1 Filed 02/10/22 Page 3 of 54
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`
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`Fig. 2. Aerial view of Apple’s Austin campus from Apple’s November 20, 2019 press release.
`
`7.
`
`8.
`
`Apple also manufactures its products in Austin and has done so since at least 2013.3
`
`On information and belief, Apple employs thousands of people based in the
`
`Western District of Texas and does business in this District and across Texas. Apple’s employees
`
`in Austin include Software Engineers;4 Senior Software Engineers;5 and UI and UX Designers.6
`
`
`2019),
`23,
`(Sept.
`Texas
`3 Apple, Apple’s
`in
`be made
`to
`new Mac Pro
`https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2019/09/apples-new-mac-pro-to-be-made-in-texas/ (accessed Feb. 9,
`2022); Jack Nicas, “No, That Mac Factory in Texas Is Not New,” The New York Times (Nov. 20, 2019),
`https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/20/us/politics/trump-texas-apple-factory.html (accessed Feb. 9, 2022)
`(reporting that Apple’s plant in Austin has been making Apple computers since 2013).
`4 See, e.g., LinkedIn, Software Engineer at Apple, https://www.linkedin.com/in/dinakar-pulakhandam-
`26946222/
`(accessed
`Feb.
`9,
`2022);
`LinkedIn,
`Apple,
`Software
`Engineer
`at
`https://www.linkedin.com/in/deepthi-a-40771b176/ (accessed Feb. 9, 2022); LinkedIn, Software Engineer
`at Apple, https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomas-croft-b695a941/ (accessed Feb. 9, 2022); LinkedIn,
`Software Engineer at Apple, https://www.linkedin.com/in/adarsh-suresh-mangalath-675b8992/ (accessed
`Feb. 9, 2022); LinkedIn, Software Engineer at Apple, https://www.linkedin.com/in/reuben-rappaport/
`(accessed Feb. 9, 2022).
`5 See, e.g., LinkedIn, Senior Software Engineer at Apple, https://www.linkedin.com/in/steven-kelsch-
`351a253/
`(accessed Feb.
`9,
`2022); LinkedIn,
`at Apple,
`Senior
`Software Engineer
`https://www.linkedin.com/in/shahvidhi/ (accessed Feb. 9, 2022).
`6 See, e.g., LinkedIn, UI/UX Designer at Apple, https://www.linkedin.com/in/samantha-lanier-b6493a32/
`(accessed Feb. 9, 2022); LinkedIn, UX Designer at Apple, https://www.linkedin.com/in/blainebogar/
`(accessed Feb. 9, 2022).
`
`
`
`3
`
`

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`Case 6:22-cv-00149 Document 1 Filed 02/10/22 Page 4 of 54
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`Given the location of such Apple employees in Austin, on information and belief, documents and
`
`witnesses relevant to this action are located in this District.
`
`9.
`
`Apple’s website lists numerous job openings in its Austin offices, including for
`
`various software engineering roles. For example, Apple has open positions in Austin for a “UI
`
`Engineer” to work within its Systems and Technology organization to “build[] leading edge
`
`custom applications that serve Apple customers and partners”;7 a “Software Engineer – Core
`
`Drivers” to “work on Apple platforms; iOS, OS X, tvOS and watchOS” to “design and implement
`
`platform level features that encompass interfacing with drivers to higher level frameworks”;8 a
`
`“System Performance Engineer” to “work on . . . operating systems for iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch,
`
`Mac, AppleTV, and several other ‘black box’ secret projects”;9 and “Software Development
`
`Engineer in Test (Swift)” to “create[] solutions centered around apps, services, tools, and systems
`
`that help Apple engineering teams worldwide realize the vision of the products they invent.”10
`
`10.
`
`Apple has placed or contributed to placing infringing products, including but not
`
`limited to the iPhone 12, into the stream of commerce via established distribution channels,
`
`knowing or understanding that such products would be sold and used in the United States,
`
`including in the Western District of Texas. Apple has also derived substantial revenue from
`
`infringing acts in the Western District of Texas, including from the sale and use of infringing
`
`products, including but not limited to the iPhone 12.
`
`
`
`https://jobs.apple.com/en-us/details/200231591/ui-
`
`Engineer,
`Apple,
`at
`Careers
`7
`UI
`engineer?team=SFTWR (accessed Jan. 14, 2022).
`https://jobs.apple.com/en-
`– Core Drivers,
`8 Careers
`at Apple,
`Software Engineer
`us/details/200300508/software-engineer-core-drivers?team=SFTWR (accessed Jan. 14, 2022).
`9 Careers at Apple, System Performance Engineer, https://jobs.apple.com/en-us/details/200331944/system-
`performance-engineer?team=SFTWR (accessed Jan. 14, 2022).
`10 Careers at Apple, Software Development Engineer in Test (Swift), https://jobs.apple.com/en-
`us/details/200246889/software-development-engineer-in-test-swift?team=SFTWR
`(accessed Jan. 14,
`2022).
`
`
`
`4
`
`

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`Case 6:22-cv-00149 Document 1 Filed 02/10/22 Page 5 of 54
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`11.
`
`On information and belief, Apple designs, manufactures, distributes, imports, offers
`
`for sale, and/or sells in Texas and the Western District of Texas devices like iPhones, iPod touches,
`
`iPads, and Apple Watches that infringe the Patents asserted in this matter.
`
`12.
`
`Apple may be served through its Texas registered agent for service of process, CT
`
`Corporation System, 1999 Bryan St., Ste. 900, Dallas, Texas 75201.
`
`JURISDICTION AND VENUE
`
`13.
`
`This Court has subject matter jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 1331 and
`
`1338(a) because this action arises under the patent laws of the United States, 35 U.S.C. §§ 1 et seq.
`
`14.
`
`This Court has personal jurisdiction over Apple because it has done and continues
`
`to do business in Texas, has committed and continues to commit acts of patent infringement in
`
`Texas, and has established minimum contacts with this forum state such that the exercise of
`
`jurisdiction over Apple would not offend the traditional notions of fair play and substantial justice.
`
`Upon information and belief, Apple transacts substantial business in Texas, including making,
`
`using, offering to sell and/or selling accused products in Texas, and/or inducing others to commit
`
`acts of patent infringement in Texas.
`
`15.
`
`Venue is proper against Apple in this District pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1400(b)
`
`because it has maintained regular and established physical places of business in this District and
`
`has committed acts of patent infringement in the District. See In re Cray Inc., 871 F.3d 1355, 1362-
`
`63 (Fed. Cir. 2017).
`
`PATENTS-IN-SUIT
`
`16.
`
`SpaceTime3D is the assignee of United States Patent No. 8,881,048 (the “’048
`
`patent”), entitled “System and Method for Providing Three-Dimensional Graphical User
`
`Interface,” a true and correct copy of which is attached as Exhibit A. The ’048 patent is designated
`
`
`
`5
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`

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`Case 6:22-cv-00149 Document 1 Filed 02/10/22 Page 6 of 54
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`a continuation of the application resulting in an earlier 7,735,018 patent (the “’018 patent”); bears
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`a domestic filing date of March 31, 2010; and was duly and legally issued by the PTO on
`
`November 4, 2014. Mr. Bakhash is the sole inventor of the ’048 patent.
`
`17.
`
`SpaceTime3D is also the assignee of United States Patent No. 9,304,654 (the “’654
`
`patent”), entitled “System and Method for Displaying a Timeline Associated with a Plurality of
`
`Applications,” a true and correct copy of which is attached as Exhibit B. The ’654 patent is
`
`designated a continuation of the applications resulting in the ’018 and ’048 patents; bears a
`
`domestic filing date of September 30, 2014; and was duly and legally issued by the PTO on April
`
`5, 2016. Mr. Bakhash is the sole inventor of the ’654 patent.
`
`18.
`
`SpaceTime3D is additionally the assignee of United States Patent No. 9,696,868
`
`(the “’868 patent”), entitled “System and Method for Providing Three-Dimensional Graphical
`
`User Interface,” a true and correct copy of which is attached as Exhibit C. The ’868 patent is
`
`designated a continuation of the applications resulting in the ’018, ’048, and ’654 patents; bears a
`
`domestic filing date of February 5, 2015; and was duly and legally issued by the PTO on July 4,
`
`2017. Mr. Bakhash is the sole inventor of the ’868 patent.
`
`19.
`
`20.
`
`Collectively, the ’048, ’654, and ’868 patents are referred to as the “patents-in-suit.”
`
`To the extent applicable, SpaceTime3D has complied with 35 U.S.C. § 287(a) with
`
`respect to the patents-in-suit.
`
`21.
`
`The patents-in-suit, generally speaking, provide specific, non-conventional
`
`improvements to then-existing computer graphical user interfaces (“GUIs”), by providing an
`
`interactive computing interface and sorting interface comprising information from real-time and
`
`static sources, including but not limited to meta search results from the Web, information from
`
`application program interfaces, web services, search engines, application programs, networks, and
`
`
`
`6
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`

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`Case 6:22-cv-00149 Document 1 Filed 02/10/22 Page 7 of 54
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`files on the end user’s desktop. The claims of the patents-in-suit are directed to specific systems
`
`and methods for easily, efficiently, and intuitively interacting with and switching between
`
`applications operating on a computing device by switching back and forth between individual,
`
`active applications in a two-dimensional space and images of open applications in a three-
`
`dimensional space.
`
`22.
`
`The claims of the patents-in-suit are particularly advantageous in ultra-mobile
`
`personal computer (“UMPC”) devices having limited screen sizes, reduced processing power, and
`
`limited electrical (e.g., battery) power, by allowing a user to interact with a first, active application
`
`in a two-dimensional space (e.g., to acquire and/or modify the application-specific data presented
`
`to the user) and switching to a second, active application by (i) replacing the first application in
`
`two-dimensional space with images of a plurality of application in a three-dimensional space,
`
`(ii) allowing the user to select an image of the second application, and (iii) replacing the plurality
`
`of images in three-dimensional space with the second, active application in a two-dimensional
`
`space. By presenting the images in a “three-dimensional space,” where each image was captured
`
`at a “time” when the corresponding, active application was last interacted with (hence
`
`“SpaceTime3D”), a user can easily, efficiently, and intuitively scroll through the plurality of
`
`images (e.g., arranged in chronological order) and select an image, and therefore an application,
`
`of interest. By switching between individual, active applications in a two-dimensional space and
`
`images of a plurality of applications in a three-dimensional space, which is a non-conventional
`
`technique that exploits the fact that images of applications can be more easily manipulated in a
`
`three-dimensional space than the active applications themselves, the claimed invention improves
`
`the functionality of the computing (e.g., UMPC) devices by requiring less power, minimal (or
`
`reduced) processing, and smaller screen sizes.
`
`
`
`7
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`

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`Case 6:22-cv-00149 Document 1 Filed 02/10/22 Page 8 of 54
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`23.
`
`The patents-in-suit specifically identify problems with the conventional system of
`
`inputting information into a computer to achieve a given output, which involves a series of tedious
`
`steps—repetitive mouse clicks and keyboard inputs—to run applications and documents or
`
`navigate to certain information. ’868 Patent, col. 1:41-45. To switch to a different application or
`
`document on a computer, the user often has to close her current applications and documents, hide
`
`them or overlap them on a finite desktop by drawing them on top of each other, and then mine
`
`through folder within folder to find them again at a later date. Because the user’s desktop is finite,
`
`she must redo these same tasks over and over again. Id. at col. 1:45-51.
`
`24.
`
`This conventional system wastes the end user’s time by (1) requiring many mouse
`
`clicks to open and close applications and/or documents, (2) requiring the user to remember the
`
`combinations of programs and documents she may need for a given purpose, and (3) requiring the
`
`user to create elaborate hierarchical folder systems to aid in the process of storing and recalling
`
`applications and/or documents. Id. at col. 1:52-56.
`
`25.
`
`Further, the conventional operating system presents computer output, including
`
`applications and documents, in a two-dimensional visual display. Id. at col. 1:59-62. This output
`
`is usually confined within a window that is drawn on a finite-sized desktop—that is, the working
`
`area of a computer—with a fixed length and width. When the computer’s output exceeds the finite
`
`working graphical area, elements of the GUI (i.e. the windows) are typically drawn on top of each
`
`other such that the GUI components overlap on top of one another. Id. at col. 2:7-13.
`
`26.
`
`The invention claimed in the patents-in-suit solves these known technological
`
`shortcomings in computers in a particular, non-conventional way: by providing an improved GUI
`
`that switches between individual, active applications in a two-dimensional space and images of a
`
`plurality of applications in a three-dimensional space. Id. at col. 2:53-56. More specifically, the
`
`
`
`8
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`

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`Case 6:22-cv-00149 Document 1 Filed 02/10/22 Page 9 of 54
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`patents-in-suit recite a specific improvement over prior-art systems and methods by solving
`
`problems present in computers and especially UMPCs, which have relatively small displays,
`
`limited processing capabilities, and limited amounts of power. While such devices can run
`
`individual applications, they are not designed to run and update a display for multiple applications
`
`simultaneously because (1) the display is too small, and (2) there is insufficient processing power
`
`to operate and update the display for many active applications simultaneously, let alone to do so
`
`in three-dimensional space.
`
`27.
`
`To solve these computer-based problems, the claimed invention teaches the system
`
`and method of opening applications in two-dimensional (“2D”) space, switching from applications
`
`in 2D space to images of those applications in three-dimensional (“3D”) space, manipulating the
`
`images in 3D space, and switching back and forth from the images in 3D space to the applications
`
`in 2D space.11
`
`28.
`
`In order to increase space on a user’s desktop, eliminate the need to constantly open
`
`and close programs or hide and reveal them each time the user needs them, and reduce the number
`
`of mouse clicks (’868 Patent, col. 37: 28-35)—improvements that are particularly useful on small-
`
`screen devices including UMPCs (id. at col. 38:19-26), the claimed invention allows users to
`
`switch from the traditional 2D view to a 3D view, where a plurality of images is displayed. These
`
`improved interfaces allow the end user to “toggle or switch between 2D and 3D for any selectively
`
`captured computing output and information (webpages, applications, documents, desktops or
`
`anything that can be visualized on a computer).” Id. at col. 22:25-30.
`
`29.
`
`The claimed invention further discloses how, once in the 3D space, images of open
`
`applications are captured and manipulated as the user interacts with them. To this end, the
`
`
`11 The description of the claimed invention in this and proceeding paragraphs refers to applications, but is
`not limited to any particular application and includes other objects like webpages and documents.
`9
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`

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`Case 6:22-cv-00149 Document 1 Filed 02/10/22 Page 10 of 54
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`specification provides that “[t]he memory module preferably comprises executable code for the
`
`processor to capture the computing output from at least one computer source in response to the
`
`received end user input and present the computing output as at least two objects within a three-
`
`dimensional virtual space displayed on the display screen,” id. at col. 3:31-37; that “the subject
`
`matter of a simulated 3-D Cartesian space drawn within the two-dimensional display or Window
`
`of an end user’s computer is preferably redrawn in a cyclical fashion . . . to refresh the scene such
`
`that changes to the objects drawn must happen quickly enough based on the responses of the end
`
`user such that the experience feels truly interactive,” id. at col. 14:41-47; and that “[t]he program
`
`recalculates the shapes and sizes of objects or geometry in the scene/3D Cartesian space to reflect
`
`the location or visual perspective of the end user in the local coordinate system . . . [and] the
`
`program will redraw the scene in a cyclical fashion” “to achieve a realistic real-time experience,”
`
`id. at col: 16-41-47; see also id. at Fig. 2 (showing how “user input” “recalculate[s] geometry in
`
`scene based on new viewpoint or perspective” and “redraw[s]” scene); Fig. 3 (describing the
`
`method of periodically capturing on screen the output of window for a program/information as a
`
`bitmap image; storing bitmap image in a frame buffer; mapping visual output of OS control,
`
`bitmap, or API on to arbitrary 3D geometry; and creating device input event handler in 3D); col.
`
`3:42 (describing claimed invention’s “chronological order” feature); col. 19:15-26 (describing
`
`claimed invention’s ability to manipulate images based on the user’s deletion of an image in 3D
`
`space).
`
`30.
`
`The claimed invention further discloses how the user can select an image from the
`
`plurality of images displayed in 3D space, where the selected image is then reopened in 2D space,
`
`for instance, by “clicking button 398 [of Fig. 10], [which] binds the end user to a close-up
`
`viewpoint of the first page in the 3D stack,” versus “clicking button 406 [of Fig. 10], [which] binds
`
`
`
`10
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`

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`Case 6:22-cv-00149 Document 1 Filed 02/10/22 Page 11 of 54
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`the user to a close-up viewpoint of the last page in the stack,” id. at col. 18:56-59; and by describing
`
`the “bind to HUD” technique, where an application that was selected in 3D space is brought into
`
`2D space, id. col. 21:58-67, 22:1-22.
`
`31.
`
`In sum, the patents-in-suit disclose improved user interfaces for electronic devices,
`
`particularly for those with small screens like UMPCs, by solving the computer-based problem of
`
`displaying only small active windows in two-dimensional spaces, which in turn limits the amount
`
`of content displayed. The patents-in-suit solve this problem by disclosing specific systems and
`
`methods that allow screens to display images in an immersive three-dimensional space, enabling
`
`users to see and navigate through unlimited amounts of content. The patents-in-suit thus deliver
`
`an improved user interface in a computer-related invention.
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`Fig. 3. Illustrations of pre-SpaceTime3D two-dimensional screen display (left) versus
`SpaceTime3D’s three-dimensional screen display (right).
`
`APPLE’S USE OF SPACETIME3D’S TECHNOLOGY
`
`Apple is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of UMPC products.
`
`Apple makes, uses, offers to sell, sells, and/or imports into the United States
`
`32.
`
`33.
`
`products and/or systems that infringe the patents-in-suit.
`
`34.
`
`As described below, Apple’s infringement of the patents-in-suit was and continues
`
`to be willful and deliberate.
`
`
`
`11
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`

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`Case 6:22-cv-00149 Document 1 Filed 02/10/22 Page 12 of 54
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`35.
`
`On March 29, 2007, SpaceTime3D published a patent application that matured into
`
`the ’018 patent, the parent patent of the patents-in-suit. Soon thereafter, SpaceTime3D released a
`
`public beta version of a browser using its published, patent-pending technology on June 4, 2007.
`
`Shortly following its debut, SpaceTime3D’s technology received favorable press coverage in
`
`numerous publications including but not limited to the San Jose Mercury News, The Washington
`
`Post, The Wall Street Journal, The Economist, Popular Science, PC World, Tech Digest,
`
`TechNewsWorld, Renderosity, and InternetNews.com.
`
`36.
`
`For instance, on June 4, 2007, reporter Dean Takahashi of the San Jose Mercury
`
`News exclaimed that SpaceTime3D’s product “is the most advanced 3-D navigation system I’ve
`
`seen.”12
`
`37.
`
`On June 8, 2007, reporter Jack Germain of TechNewsWorld wrote that
`
`SpaceTime3D’s “innovative three-dimensional search program” “deliver[ed] on its promise to
`
`save me time and provide a revolutionary online searching tool,”—“even in its pre-beta release
`
`form.”13
`
`38. Mr. Germain further elaborated on the superiority of SpaceTime3D’s beta browser
`
`over other widely used web browsers already on the market:
`
`As cool as it is to search for products and text in 3-D, I was particularly impressed with
`SpaceTime’s tab browsing capabilities. It is much more than what is available with the
`tabbed browsing feature in Microsoft’s Internet Explorer 7.0 or in the open source
`Firefox browser.
`
`With SpaceTime, I have an unlimited 3-D space. This lets me map out my browsing
`progress in a visual time line, treating each Web site as an object that I can manipulate
`and rearrange within the 3-D environment.
`
`
`
`12 Dean Takahashi, “Takahashi: Software allowing users to search web in 3-D still in infancy,” The Mercury
`News (June 4, 2007 4:23 A.M.), https://www.mercurynews.com/2007/06/04/takahashi-software-allowing-
`users-to-search-web-in-3-d-still-in-infancy/ (accessed Feb. 9, 2022).
`13 Jack Germain, “SpaceTime Browser Adds New Dimension to Search,” TechNewsWorld (June 8, 2007
`5:00 A.M.), https://www.technewsworld.com/story/57733.html (accessed Feb. 9, 2022).
`12
`
`
`
`

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`Case 6:22-cv-00149 Document 1 Filed 02/10/22 Page 13 of 54
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`SpaceTime also lets me alternate between 3-D and 2-D perspectives by double clicking
`on a 3-D display and then clicking the Return button. This process eliminates the hassle
`of reading and closing pop-up windows and clicking on the Back button. As much as I
`like the ability in Firefox to open a new tab when I click on a search link, viewing a
`stack of 10 related search objects in one flexible view leaves all the other two-
`dimensional browsers in the digital dust.
`
`39.
`
`On information and belief, Apple had notice of SpaceTime3D’s technology through
`
`the press coverage that it received.
`
`40.
`
`Apple also had actual knowledge of the technology underlying the patents-in-suit
`
`as early as March 2008, when Mr. Bakhash shared that technology with an Apple executive, who
`
`then relayed to Mr. Bakhash that he had forwarded the information to various groups within Apple.
`
`41.
`
`Also in March 2008, an account executive for Apple was aware of the Wall Street
`
`Journal’s coverage of the technology underlying the patents-in-suit.
`
`42.
`
`Further, in or around May 2008, an NYU campus representative for Apple wrote to
`
`Mr. Bakhash that he was “blown away with how useful [the technology underlying the patents-in-
`
`suit] can be.” The Apple campus representative observed that the SpaceTime3D technology was a
`
`“significant time saver” and asked Mr. Bakhash to “[p]lease keep [him] updated with SpaceTime
`
`news and [he’ll] definitely spread the word.”
`
`43.
`
` In or around October 2008, an acquaintance of Mr. Bakhash shared with Steve
`
`Jobs the technology underlying the patents-in-suit, as well as feedback from early users of the
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`SpaceTime3D search program urging Mr. Bakhash to create a Mac version of the program.
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`44.
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`In addition to Mr. Bakhash’s communications with the Apple employees and Apple
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`campus representative, Apple also had actual knowledge of SpaceTime3D’s patents from
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`prosecuting its own patents. For example, dozens of Apple’s patents cite to SpaceTime3D’s
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`Published Application No. US2007/0070066A1, which matured to become the parent patent to the
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`patents-in-suit.
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`Case 6:22-cv-00149 Document 1 Filed 02/10/22 Page 14 of 54
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`45.
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`Notwithstanding its actual notice and/or actual knowledge of SpaceTime3D’s
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`patents, Apple has infringed and continues to infringe the patents-in-suit.
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`APPLE’S ACCUSED PRODUCTS
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`46.
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`Apple’s infringing products (the “Accused Products”) include iPhones, iPod
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`touches, iPads, and Apple Watches that were sold, offered for sale, made, used, or imported into
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`the United States from at least 2016 to the present.
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`47.
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`The graphical user interface of the Accused Products incorporates SpaceTime3D’s
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`patented technology. Apple exploited this technology without a license to use SpaceTime3D’s
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`patents-in-suit and continues to do so in its Accused Products to the present day.
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`48.
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`The Accused Products include a graphical user interface that receives inputs from
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`end users, captures computing output from at least one computer source in response to the received
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`end-user input, and presents the computing output as at least two objects within a three-
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`dimensional virtual space displayed to the end user.
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`49.
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`As one example, the Accused Products are preloaded with the Safari browser,
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`which Apple developed to run specifically on its devices.14 Safari receives at least a first and
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`second input from an end user through a capacitive touchscreen. For example, the end user can
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`enter at least a first and second website address using the touchscreen, after which the Accused
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`Products display at least two stacked tabs—each corresponding with an image of the entered
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`website address—in three-dimensional space.
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`50.
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`Safari receives additional interactions from the end user when the user clicks on
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`one of the tabs displayed in the three-dimensional space. That interaction switches the displayed
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`screen from the three-dimensional space to a two-dimensional space of the selected website.
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`14 See Apple, Safari, https://www.apple.com/safari/ (accessed Feb. 9, 2022).
`14
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`Case 6:22-cv-00149 Document 1 Filed 02/10/22 Page 15 of 54
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`
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`Fig. 4. Illustrations of a three-dimensional space displaying overlapping images of two websites
`(left) and a two-dimensional space displaying one active website (right) in the preloaded
`Safari browser on an iPhone.
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`51.
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`The Accused Products infringe SpaceTime3D’s patented technology also by
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`displaying images of open applications in a three-dimensional space. End users can navigate and/or
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`cycle through images of open applications and interact with one particular application by selecting
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`the corresponding image on the touchscreen. That interaction replaces the images of all open
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`applications in the three-dimensional space with the selected application in a two-dimensional
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`space. The following figures (Figures 5-6) provide nonexhaustive illustrations of how iPhones and
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`Apple Watches infringe the patents-in-suit.
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`Case 6:22-cv-00149 Document 1 Filed 02/10/22 Page 16 of 54
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`
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`Fig. 5. Illustrations of a single active application (i.e. Clock) displayed in two-dimensional space
`(left) and images of three open applications (i.e. Safari, Clock, Calendar) displayed in three-
`dimensional space (right) on an iPhone.
`
`Fig. 6. Illustration of images of multiple open applications (i.e. Workout, Settings, Activity)
`displayed in three-dimensional space on an Apple Watch.
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`Case 6:22-cv-00149 Document 1 Filed 02/10/22 Page 17 of 54
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`52.
`
`In fact, Apple provides instructions on how users can use the three-dimensional
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`viewer for both open webpages (in Safari) and open applications for the Accused Products. For
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`instance, for the preloaded Safari browser, Apple’s support website instructs iPhone users to tap
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`on a certain icon to “look through the webpages you have open,” as well as to organize the
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`webpages that a user has open and “make them easier to return to later.”
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`
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`
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`Fig. 7. Excerpts from Apple’s iPhone User Guide on how to “use tabs in Safari on iPhone” to “help
`you navigate between multiple open webpages.” See https://support.apple.com/guide/iphone/use-
`tabs-in-safari-iph3028ebf68/15.0/ios/15.0 (accessed Feb. 9, 2022).
`
`53.
`
`The icon with which users can access these features looks nearly identical to the
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`SpaceTime3D logo, which was widely disseminated in the positive press that SpaceTime3D
`
`received upon its launch.
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`Case 6:22-cv-00149 Document 1 Filed 02/10/22 Page 18 of 54
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`
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`Fig. 8. SpaceTime3D’s logo (left); Safari webpage-navigator icon for iOS 14 (right).
`
`54.
`
`Likewise, on its support website, Apple instructs users of iPhones, iPads, and iPod
`
`touch how to “quickly switch from one app to another.” On the iPhone X and iPad, users can
`
`switch between open apps by “swip[ing] up from the bottom to the middle of your screen and
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`hold[ing] until you see the App Switcher.” On the iPhone 8 or earlier models and iPads with a
`
`Home button, users can switch between apps by “double-click[ing] the Home button to see recently
`
`used apps.” Apple instructs consumers on how to use these features, as shown in Figure 9.
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`Case 6:22-cv-00149 Document 1 Filed 02/10/22 Page 19 of 54
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`Fig. 9. Excerpt from Apple’s support website, https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202070
`(accessed Feb. 9, 2022).
`
`55.
`
`Apple similarly instructs users of the Apple Watch on how to use the Apple Watch
`
`Dock to open apps, as well as choose between recent apps, as shown in Figure 10.
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`
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`Case 6:22-cv-00149 Document 1 Filed 02/10/22 Page 20 of 54
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`
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`Fig. 10. Excerpts from Apple’s support website, https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT206992.
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`
`COUNT I
`INFRINGEMENT OF U.S. PATENT NO. 8,881,048
`
`56.
`
`SpaceTime3D repeats and incorporates by reference each preceding paragraph as
`
`if fully set forth herein and further states:
`
`57.
`
`Apple has infringed and continues to infringe the ’048 patent directly and/or
`
`indirectly (by inducing infringement by others) by, inter alia, making, using, selling, importing,
`
`and/or offering for sale systems and/or methods that use a two-dimensional space to display and
`
`interact with a particular webpage and a three-dimensional space to visualize, manipulate,
`
`
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`20
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`Case 6:22-cv-00149 Document 1 Filed 02/10/22 Page 21 of 54
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`navigate, and select among images of open webpages, in the manner recited in the claims of the
`
`’048 patent.
`
`58.
`
`In the alternative to literal infringement, Apple has infringed and continues to
`
`infringe the ’048 patent under the doctrine of equivalents.
`
`59.
`
`For example, claim 8 is illustrative of the claims of the ’048 patent. It recites “[a]
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`system for providing a three-dimensional (3D) graphical user interface, comprising: a display
`
`screen; an input device for receiving at least one i