`
`
`UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
`
`
`
`
`BEFORE THE PATENT TRIAL AND APPEAL BOARD
`
`
`
`UNIFIED PATENTS, LLC
`
`v.
`
`TOGAIL TECHNOLOGIES LTD.,
`Patent Owner
`
`
`
`U.S. PATENT NO. 10,791,502
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`DECLARATION OF FRIEDHELM RODERMUND
`IN SUPPORT OF A REQUEST FOR INTER PARTES REVIEW OF U.S.
`PATENT NO. 10,791,502 UNDER 35 U.S.C. § 311
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`TABLE OF CONTENTS
`
`IPR2023-00338
`F. Rodermund Decl.
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`Page
`
`I.
`
`II.
`
`III.
`
`IV.
`
`INTRODUCTION AND ENGAGEMENT .........................................................................1
`
`BACKGROUND AND QUALIFICATIONS .....................................................................3
`
`SUMMARY OF MY OPINIONS ........................................................................................7
`
`PUBLICATION OF 3GPP SPECIFICATIONS AND RELATED DOCUMENTS ...........8
`
`A.
`
`B.
`
`General Practices .....................................................................................................8
`
`Specific Documents ...............................................................................................23
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`1.
`
`2.
`
`Oppo (R2-1801795) ...................................................................................23
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`Technical Specifications ............................................................................32
`
`V.
`
`AVAILABILITY FOR CROSS-EXAMINATION ...........................................................39
`
`A.
`
`B.
`
`Right To Supplement .............................................................................................39
`
`Signature ................................................................................................................39
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`IPR2023-00338
`F. Rodermund Decl.
`
`I, Friedhelm Rodermund, do hereby declare as follows:
`
`I.
`
`INTRODUCTION AND ENGAGEMENT
`
`I have been retained in this matter by the Petitioner, Unified Patents,
`
`LLC, as an independent, expert declarant to provide testimony regarding 3GPP’s
`
`standard business practices for record keeping and publishing
`
`technical
`
`specifications, change request proposals, reports, and other documents developed
`
`during the course of standards activities carried out by the 3rd Generation
`
`Partnership Project (“3GPP”) and the European Telecommunications Standards
`
`Institute (“ETSI”). I am being compensated at my rate of €450 per hour for my
`
`services. No part of my compensation is dependent on my opinions or on the
`
`outcome of this proceeding. I have no financial interest in any of the parties to this
`
`proceeding.
`
`
`
`I have been asked to provide my opinions regarding the authenticity
`
`and dates of public accessibility of the following 3GPP document:
`
`• TDoc R2-1801795, which represents a document with the title
`
`“Discussion on SI Request Prohibit Timer” and identifying “Source:
`
`OPPO”) (hereinafter “Oppo”) (Ex-1005)
`
`• TS 36.331 v14.5.1 (2018-01) “Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio
`
`Access
`
`(E-UTRA); Radio Resource Control
`
`(RRC) Protocol
`
`Specification (Release 14),” (Ex-1024);
`
`1
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`
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`IPR2023-00338
`F. Rodermund Decl.
`
`• TS 38.300 v15.0.0 (2017-12) “NR; NR and NG-RAN Overall
`
`description; Stage 2 (Release 15),” (Ex-1025); and
`
`• TS 38.331 v15.0.0 (2017-12) “NR Radio Resource Control (RRC)
`
`protocol specification (Release 15),” (Ex-1026).
`
`
`
`As an ETSI Project Manager and Secretary, from June 1998 to
`
`December 2004, I have personal knowledge of 3GPP’s standard business and
`
`records keeping practices. I continued following 3GPP’s work ever since. Thus,
`
`based on my experience, personal knowledge, and review of 3GPP’s business
`
`records, I am able to testify regarding the authenticity of certain documents
`
`published by 3GPP and the timing of their publication.
`
`
`
`I am also knowledgeable about document management practices of e.g.
`
`in TSG RAN WG2. This is due to the fact that all 3GPP working groups use the
`
`same document repositories on ftp.3gpp.org and portal.3gpp.org. Thus, I am able to
`
`testify regarding the availability and authenticity of any 3GPP documents.
`
`
`
`I have been informed that Togail Technologies Ltd. (collectively,
`
`“Togail” or “Patent Owner”) alleges ownership of U.S. Patent No. 10,791,502 (“the
`
`’502 Patent”) (Ex-1001). I have no financial interest in the Patent Owner or the ’502
`
`patent. I was asked to provide my opinions based on documents published in the
`
`timeframe from 2016 through April 2, 2018, which I understand is the earliest
`
`claimed priority date of the ’502 Patent. The 3GPP website, systems and practices
`
`2
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`
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`IPR2023-00338
`F. Rodermund Decl.
`that I discuss are applicable to that time period, and have not changed over the last
`
`decade in a manner that would alter the opinions that I provide in this declaration.
`
`
`
`In forming my opinions I relied upon the documents that I reference in
`
`this declaration, as well as those listed in Appendix A.
`
`II. BACKGROUND AND QUALIFICATIONS
`
`I have more than 20 years of experience working with standards
`
`development organizations including the Third Generation Partnership Project
`
`(“3GPP”), the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (“ETSI”), and the
`
`Open Mobile Alliance (“OMA”). I have particular experience with the development
`
`of standards related to cellular telecommunications, including the standards for the
`
`Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (“UMTS”), Long Term Evolution
`
`(“LTE”), and 5G, which are all standards developed by the 3GPP.
`
`
`
`I attended the University of Technology Aachen in Aachen, Germany,
`
`where I performed graduate studies in Electrical Engineering with a focus on
`
`telecommunications technologies (“Dipl.-Ing. TH” degree). I also attended the
`
`University of Technology Trondheim in Trondheim, Norway, and completed my
`
`Diploma thesis, “Design of a dual processor computer for digital signal processing
`
`in power electronics,” in 1993.
`
`
`
`From December 1993 to June 1998, I worked at Mannesmann
`
`Mobilfunk as a System Engineer and Project Manager in Quality Assurance and
`
`3
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`IPR2023-00338
`F. Rodermund Decl.
`Technical Standards. One of my responsibilities was to ensure that cellular network
`
`equipment was compatible with the Global System for Mobile Communications
`
`(“GSM”) standard developed by ETSI, and I did so by managing and performing
`
`related test activities. During that time, I also started working as a standards delegate.
`
`I attended my first ETSI meeting in 1996 (although I was already following ETSI
`
`developments from 1992 during my studies).
`
` From June 1998 to December 2004, I worked at ETSI as a project
`
`manager for various ETSI Special Mobile Group (“SMG”) and 3GPP working
`
`groups. First, I served as a secretary of SMG4 “Data Services” and SMG8 “Base
`
`Stations Testing.” Then, as a project manager with the ETSI Mobile Competence
`
`Center (“MCC”), I supported establishing 3GPP as the new international standards
`
`development organization for cellular telecommunications. One of my roles was
`
`acting as Secretary for 3GPP’s Technical Specifications Group Terminals, Working
`
`Group (“T2”), the group which played a leading role in the creation of standards for
`
`Multimedia such as the Multimedia Messaging Service (“MMS”).
`
` Later, I was a secretary of the highest-level Technical Specifications
`
`Group “Terminals” which was, besides other things, responsible for the development
`
`of test specifications including tests for the radio interface including functions
`
`related to Radio Resource Control (RRC).
`
`4
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`IPR2023-00338
`F. Rodermund Decl.
`I edited all technical specifications produced by my working groups and
`
`
`
`presented results to the parent body for approval. I attended all meetings (apart from
`
`some sub-working group meetings) and was also responsible for compiling meeting
`
`reports, for handling all the meeting documents, and managing the work plan. It was
`
`also my role to guide the groups and to advise the chairmen regarding 3GPP working
`
`methods and procedures including document handling, and to make sure delegates
`
`were aware of their company’s obligations under the 3GPP Intellectual Property
`
`Rights policy.
`
` As part of my responsibilities at ETSI, I acted as a 3GPP custodian of
`
`records by personally managing 3GPP’s public File Transfer Protocol (ftp) folders,
`
`which I used to make publicly accessible various 3GPP documents, including
`
`versions of 3GPP specifications, technical reports, liaison statements, change
`
`requests, contributions, agendas, meeting reports, and other 3GPP documents from
`
`my working groups. I am also knowledgeable about document management
`
`practices used in other working groups and within 3GPP in general with regard to
`
`making documents publicly accessible through the same, public FTP server of
`
`3GPP.
`
` Since I left ETSI as a staff member in 2005, I have been continuously
`
`involved in standardization activities, including with Open Mobile Alliance, ETSI,
`
`and 3GPP. Since 2017, I also have been attending the ETSI Intellectual Property
`
`5
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`IPR2023-00338
`F. Rodermund Decl.
`Rights Special Committee, which is responsible for the maintenance of the ETSI
`
`Intellectual Property Rights Policy.
`
` After I left ETSI, I worked from January 2005 to October 2014 at
`
`Vodafone, first as a Project Manager for Mobile Broadcast Standards, and then as
`
`Vice Chairman of the Device Management working group of the Open Mobile
`
`Alliance, and then as a Senior Standards Strategist, all with responsibilities as
`
`described on my C.V. At Vodafone, I was deeply involved in standards work with
`
`ETSI and 3GPP and other standards setting organizations, including as a delegate to
`
`3GPP SA1 “Services.” As part of my responsibilities, I attended selected 3GPP
`
`meetings, submitted documents to 3GPP, used 3GPP resources (including 3GPP’s
`
`FTP server) extensively, and remained knowledgeable about 3GPP policies and
`
`procedures with regard to document management and public accessibility. I was also
`
`involved in the creation of patents, defense activities related to patent litigations, and
`
`patent evaluation, mostly in the context of standards development.
`
` Since leaving Vodafone in 2014, I have performed consulting work
`
`regarding Internet of Things (IoT) and Machine to Machine (M2M) technology and
`
`standards, first at Friedhelm Rodermund Consulting and then as the Founder and
`
`Director of IOTECC GmbH. In connection with my work, I regularly deal with
`
`standards such as OMA’s Lightweight M2M (LwM2M), 3GPP’s LTE, Narrowband
`
`IoT (NB-IoT) and 5G standards. And I continue to extensively use 3GPP resources
`
`6
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`IPR2023-00338
`F. Rodermund Decl.
`and therefore remain knowledgeable about 3GPP policies and procedures with
`
`regard to document management and public accessibility.
`
`
`
`I also provide consulting services related to patents, in particular around
`
`3GPP Standard Essential Patents (“SEPs”), and I have been working as an expert
`
`witness on a number of occasions. I continue to closely follow the maintenance of
`
`the ETSI IPR Policy as a delegate to the ETSI IPR Special Committee. Furthermore,
`
`I am conducting a seminar on SEPs and the Internet of Things at the Technical
`
`University of Ilmenau, Germany.
`
` At the time of writing this declaration, I am following—including
`
`attending selected meetings—the following standards committees: ETSI oneM2M,
`
`ETSI IPR Special Committee, Open Mobile Alliance, and 3GPP.
`
` A copy of my curriculum vitae, which includes a detailed description
`
`of my experience and education, is attached as Appendix B. A list of litigation
`
`matters on which I have worked over the last five years is also included in my
`
`curriculum vitae.
`
`III. SUMMARY OF MY OPINIONS
`
`It is my opinion that Oppo (Ex-1005) is an authentic 3GPP TDoc and
`
`would have been publicly accessible through ftp.3gpp.org no later than February 13,
`
`2018.
`
`7
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`IPR2023-00338
`F. Rodermund Decl.
`It is further my opinion that the 3GPP technical specifications at Ex-
`
`
`
`1024 to 1026 are authentic 3GPP technical specifications that would have been
`
`publicly accessible from the 3GPP website no later than the upload date shown on
`
`the website.
`
`
`
`IV. PUBLICATION OF 3GPP SPECIFICATIONS AND RELATED
`DOCUMENTS
`A. General Practices
` Unless otherwise noted, the following is an accurate description of
`
`3GPP general practices from 1998 to the present, regardless of whether I use the
`
`present or past tense to describe those practices.
`
`
`
`3GPP was established in 1998 by a group of telecommunications
`
`standard development organizations from Japan, Korea, China, Europe, and the
`
`United States
`
`to
`
`jointly develop worldwide
`
`standards
`
`for mobile
`
`telecommunications. Today, 3GPP consists of seven partners: Association of Radio
`
`Industries and Businesses, Japan (“ARIB”), Alliance for Telecommunications
`
`Industry Solutions, USA (“ATIS”), China Communications Standards Association
`
`(“CCSA”), European Telecommunications Standards
`
`Institute
`
`(“ETSI”),
`
`Telecommunications Standards Development Society,
`
`India
`
`(“TSDSI”),
`
`Telecommunications
`
`Technology Association, Korea
`
`(“TTA”),
`
`and
`
`8
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`IPR2023-00338
`F. Rodermund Decl.
`Telecommunication Technology Committee, Japan (“TTC”)1. In addition to being
`
`one of the founding partners, ETSI hosts the Mobile Competence Centre (“MCC”),
`
`which provides administrative and technical support for the day-to-day work of
`
`3GPP. Furthermore, ETSI manages 3GPP’s IT services such as the 3GPP website,
`
`FTP server, and email exploders.
`
`
`
`3GPP is the world’s leading organization for developing and
`
`maintaining cellular telecommunications standards, which it has done since its
`
`foundation in 1998. As noted above and in my C.V., I began working for 3GPP, as
`
`part of my work at ETSI, the European-based organizational partner of 3GPP.
`
`
`
`In the ordinary course of its regularly conducted business activities, and
`
`pursuant to its standard business practices, 3GPP publishes technical specifications,
`
`proposals, reports, and other documents related to the development of cellular
`
`telecommunications standards. Such documents are published for the purposes of
`
`discussion and establishment of industry standards for cellular telecommunications.
`
`This has been 3GPP’s ordinary course of business since when I began working at
`
`ETSI in 1998.
`
`
`
`In the ordinary course of 3GPP’s regularly conducted business
`
`activities, and pursuant to its standard business practices, all draft technical
`
`
`1 For the 3GPP Partners see also Ex-1009.
`
`9
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`IPR2023-00338
`F. Rodermund Decl.
`specifications, proposals, reports, and other temporary documents to be discussed or
`
`considered in relation to 3GPP’s telecommunications standards activities were, and
`
`continue to be, assigned a temporary document number and made publicly available,
`
`including on the FTP server associated with the 3GPP website, currently residing at
`
`ftp.3gpp.org. Such documents are referred to as “TDocs.” Final versions of the
`
`technical specifications also were, and continue to be, publicly available from that
`
`same FTP server.
`
` The names and the structure of 3GPP working groups is reproduced
`
`below:2
`
`
`
`
`2 https://www.3gpp.org/3gpp-groups
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`10
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`IPR2023-00338
`F. Rodermund Decl.
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`
`
`Of particular relevance to this declaration, note that the “RAN WG2” is the 3GPP
`
`working group responsible for Radio Layer 2 and Radio Layer 3. Anyone interested
`
`in developments pertinent to these layers would follow the work on RAN WG2.
`
` Each Technical Specification Group (“TSG”) or Working Group
`
`(“WG”) adopts a structured numbering system for the documents associated with
`
`their meetings, and those systems typically follow a consistent numbering system as
`
`11
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`IPR2023-00338
`F. Rodermund Decl.
`shown in the following example: xminnzzzz. The numbering system normally
`
`comprises five logical elements: (1) x: a single letter corresponding to the TSG;
`
`wherein in the 2016 to 2018 timeframe, x was one of R (Radio Access Network), C
`
`(Core and Terminals), or S (Service and System Aspects); (2) m: a single character
`
`corresponding to the Working Group identity (typically 1, 2, 3, etc.) or, in the case
`
`of the TSG itself, the letter “P”; (3) i: normally the hyphen character “-”; (4) nn: the
`
`calendar year of the meeting to which the document was submitted; and (5) zzzz: a
`
`running number (some working groups use 5 digits).
`
`
`
`In the ordinary course of 3GPP’s regularly conducted business
`
`activities, and pursuant to its standard business practices, from December 1998
`
`onwards, 3GPP published all its TDocs and all final versions of its technical
`
`specifications on its FTP server, which has always been easily and publicly
`
`accessible from its website and currently resides at ftp.3gpp.org.
`
` As early as December 1998, 3GPP’s FTP server was freely accessible
`
`to the general public with no login, password, or membership requirement.
`
` By 1999, at least 100 companies were members of 3GPP (817
`
`companies by December 2022 3), ranging from Bosch to Ericsson to Nokia to
`
`
`3 For current 3GPP members see https://www.3gpp.org/get-involved; see
`
`also Ex-1012 (3GPP Membership database).
`
`12
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`IPR2023-00338
`F. Rodermund Decl.
`Samsung and generally including those interested in the discussion, creation, and
`
`adoption of cellular telecommunications standards, including UMTS. Each of these
`
`companies typically delegated multiple individuals to regularly participate in 3GPP
`
`meetings. Further, pursuant to 3GPP’s standard business practices, 3GPP working
`
`groups sent emails notifying these individuals as soon as new or additional
`
`documents had been uploaded to 3GPP’s FTP server. Thus, not only did the general
`
`public have access to the documents on the FTP server, but some of the most
`
`interested members of the public—those working to develop standards for cellular
`
`telecommunication or working to implement the standards—were personally
`
`informed of their availability by email.
`
` Based on my experience with 3GPP and the telecommunications
`
`industry, I would expect any person implementing a cellular network or device, e.g.,
`
`an 5G network or device, to consult the corresponding specifications on the 3GPP
`
`FTP server, as well as other related documents. The whole purpose of 3GPP creating
`
`and making these specifications available was so that engineers and other individuals
`
`would have ready access to them when developing and implementing cellular
`
`networks and devices.
`
`
`
`In addition, any person from a 3GPP member company may suggest
`
`changes and additions to a 3GPP standard. Of course, that again requires following
`
`the ongoing work in 3GPP by either attending meetings in person or by following
`
`13
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`IPR2023-00338
`F. Rodermund Decl.
`discussions on the email reflectors, and by consulting specifications, TDocs and
`
`other documents related to the subject areas of interest. For more than two decades,
`
`the 3GPP website has been widely known in the mobile telecommunications
`
`industry and provides access to all 3GPP documents in a structured manner. For
`
`example, since the early days of 3GPP, the TDocs are grouped by Technical
`
`Specification Groups (TSG) and Working Groups (WG) and each TSG or WG
`
`meeting has a dedicated folder on ftp.3gpp.org. The FTP server may also be accessed
`
`via the 3GPP web site www.3gpp.org. In addition, the 3GPP web site and the 3GPP
`
`portal portal.3gpp.org provide various search and filter functions which are useful
`
`when looking for information and documents on specific topics. Thus, everybody
`
`interested
`
`in
`
`the development of
`
`technical standards related
`
`to mobile
`
`communications was very likely aware of 3GPP and could easily find and access the
`
`desired information and documents.
`
`
`
`3GPP specifications bear a specification number consisting of four or
`
`five digits, e.g., 09.02 or 29.002. The first two digits define the specification series
`
`which are defined to group the different aspects of the 3GPP system into, e.g.
`
`requirements, service aspects, radio aspects codecs, security aspects, and test
`
`specifications. The series digits are followed by two additional digits for the 01 to
`
`13 series or three further digits for the 21 to 55 series. The subjects of the individual
`
`specification
`
`series
`
`are
`
`explained
`
`on
`
`3GPP’s
`
`website
`
`at
`
`14
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`IPR2023-00338
`F. Rodermund Decl.
`https://www.3gpp.org/specifications-technologies/specifications-by-series,
`and
`
`reproduced below:
`
`
`
`15
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`
`
`ols)Mele)alist
`
`IPR2023-00338
`IPR2023-00338
`F. Rodermund Decl.
`F. RodermundDecl.
`
`GSM only
`(before
`
`ite]
`
`3G and beyond /
`GSM (R99 and
`cla]
`
`GSM only
`(Rel-4 and
`
`later)
`
`Requirements
`
`Service aspects [“stage 1"}
`
`21 series
`
`4) series
`
`Ol series
`
`22 series
`
`42 series
`
`O02 series
`
`Technical realization (“stage 2"}
`
`23 series
`
`43 series
`
`03 series
`
`Signalling protocols ("stage 3°") - user
`equipmentto network
`
`24 series
`
`44 series
`
`O4 series
`
`Radio aspects
`
`CODECs
`
`Signalling protocols [stage 3°) -(RSS-CN) and
`OAMA&P and Charging (overflow from 32-
`range)
`
`25 series
`
`45 series
`
`OS series
`
`26 series
`
`46 series
`
`06 series
`
`27 series
`
`47 series
`
`(none
`exists}
`
`O7 series
`
`28 series
`
`48 series
`
`08 series
`
`Signalling protocols ["stage 3°) - intra-fixed-
`network
`
`29 series
`
`49 series
`
`O09 series
`
`Programme management
`
`30 series
`
`50 series
`
`10 series
`
`Subscriber Identity Module (SIM / USIM}, IC
`Cards. Test specs.
`
`3) series
`
`Sl series
`
`Ni series
`
`OAMA&Pand Charging
`
`32 series
`
`52 series
`
`12 series
`
`Access requirements and test specifications
`
`13 series "
`
`13 series {)
`
`Security aspects
`
`UE and (U)SIM test specifications
`
`Security algorithms (3)
`
`LTE (Evolved UTRA), LTE-Advanced, LTE-
`
`AdvancedPro radio technology
`
`Multiple radio access technology aspects
`
`Radio technology beyond LTE
`
`33 series
`
`34 series
`
`35 series
`
`36 series
`
`37 series
`
`38 series
`
`16
`16
`
`(2)
`
`(2)
`
`(2)
`
`Ni series
`
`55 series
`
`(4)
`
`
`
`Unified Patents, LLC v. Togail Technologies, Ltd.
`Ex-1008
`Page 018
`
`
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`IPR2023-00338
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` For instance, the 5G New Radio (NR) standard is covered in the “38
`
`series” and is further subdivided into separate sections or specifications. Selecting
`
`the “38 series” link on the page above leads to the 3GPP portal (portal.3gpp.org)
`
`page for all of the 38 series technical specifications.4 These 5G NR specifications
`
`start at TS 38.101 and end at TR 38.921. Excluding withdrawn specifications, the
`
`5G NR standard consists of more than 140 specifications. Each specification can
`
`span from a few pages to hundreds of pages. One full version of the 5G standard is
`
`massive, spanning tens of thousands of pages across the particular series of technical
`
`specifications.
`
`
`
`3GPP periodically posts the current version of each 3GPP technical
`
`specification to the 3GPP portal, where it is immediately available for download by
`
`the public. See https://portal.3gpp.org/Specifications.aspx. 3GPP preserves the
`
`posted document indefinitely on its server for future reference. Id. As detailed
`
`below, the 3GPP website provides the date that a particular version of a technical
`
`specification was uploaded, using the date convention YYYY-MM-DD. The 3GPP
`
`portal also provides a login function to unlock full features, however, login is not
`
`required for searching and downloading technical specifications. Based on my
`
`
`
`4
`https://portal.3gpp.org/Specifications.aspx?q=1&series=45&releases=all&draft=Fa
`lse&underCC=False&withACC=False&withBCC=False&numberNYA=False
`
`17
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`IPR2023-00338
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`personal experience, throughout the 2016-2018 timeframe, anyone interested in a
`
`particular 3GPP specification could search the 3GPP portal to find and download the
`
`latest version of a technical specification using the 3GPP portal in substantially the
`
`same manner as they would today:
`
`
`
`
`
`https://portal.3gpp.org/Specifications.aspx; see, e.g., 2015
`
`internet archive
`
`https://web.archive.org/web/20150924200802/https://portal.3gpp.org/.
`
`
`
`In the ordinary course of 3GPP’s regularly conducted business
`
`activities, and pursuant to its standard business practices, TDocs are usually
`
`uploaded to 3GPP’s FTP server and website before the meeting where they are to be
`
`discussed. Documents created or revised during the course of a meeting are normally
`
`uploaded at the latest during the week following the meeting (e.g., the meeting report
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`18
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`IPR2023-00338
`F. Rodermund Decl.
`of the meeting is usually published for review during the week following the
`
`meeting).
`
`
`
`In the ordinary course of 3GPP’s regularly conducted business
`
`activities, and pursuant to its standard business practices, 3GPP maintains archives
`
`that include different versions of the specifications, as well as email communications
`
`to its membership, including emails announcing the uploading of new or additional
`
`documents to 3GPP’s FTP server. These archives are created at the time the emails
`
`are initially sent.
`
`
`
`3GPP specifications almost always are duplicated in at least two and
`
`sometime more locations on the FTP server. One location corresponds to a
`
`“snapshot” of the specifications corresponding to a particular plenary meeting
`
`cycle—for instance, the 2018-12 snapshot contains a snapshot of numerous
`
`specifications after the December 2018 3GPP plenary meetings. The second location
`
`is an “archive” that contains all versions over time for a given specification. The
`
`screenshot below shows an excerpt of the “Spec” folder at ftp.3gpp.org:
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`19
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`IPR2023-00338
`F. Rodermund Decl.
`
`
`
`
`
` While 3GPP aims to upload the updated specifications to both locations
`
`at the same time, occasionally there may be a small difference in the upload date,
`
`and thus the date stamp, for the same specification uploaded to the two locations.
`
`Additionally, specifications which are not yet approved (so called “draft”
`
`specifications) are presented as TDocs at working group and at plenary meetings (as
`
`20
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`IPR2023-00338
`F. Rodermund Decl.
`soon as the working group decides to submit the specification to the plenary meeting
`
`for information or approval). In many cases, the TDocs are also distributed on the
`
`email exploder of the working group prior to the meeting, making the TDocs
`
`available to all those subscribed to the email distribution list.
`
` The timestamp on 3GPP’s FTP server shows the date when the
`
`document was uploaded the last time. Thus, the timestamp shows the latest possible
`
`date the document became publicly available and accessible on 3GPP’s FTP server.
`
`The given document might have been available earlier and the original timestamp
`
`might have been overwritten because the document was uploaded again. According
`
`to my experience, this is something which happened quite frequently. Thus, the ftp
`
`timestamp is reliable as the latest possible upload date but one cannot determine
`
`whether it represents the first upload of a document to the FTP server.
`
`
`
`3GPP’s working practice to store their documents on its FTP server, as
`
`described above, has not changed over time. Starting from the first 3GPP meetings
`
`in 1998 until present, all WGs and plenary meetings are represented by dedicated
`
`meeting folders on the FTP server. These meeting folders include the documents
`
`discussed at the meetings. Both the folders and the documents are accessible to the
`
`public. Almost every week, a new meeting folder with the respective documents is
`
`added. In addition to the plenary and WG meeting folders, and some other folders,
`
`there is also the “Specs” folder, which holds all 3GPP specifications including the
`
`21
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`IPR2023-00338
`F. Rodermund Decl.
`aforementioned “snapshot” and archive folders. Since the early days of 3GPP a new
`
`folder is added inside the “Specs” folder after each TSG plenary meeting to hold the
`
`latest versions of specifications approved at those TSG plenary meetings. This is still
`
`3GPP’s working practice today; thus, this practice has not changed over time.
`
`
`
`3GPP maintains a set of publicly accessible documents providing
`
`further details on its way of working:
`
`• 3GPP Working Procedures (Ex-1010)
`
`• Vocabulary for 3GPP Specifications 3GPP TR 21.905 (Ex-1020)
`
`• Working Methods 3GPP TR 21.9005
`
`• Specification Drafting Rules 3GPP TR 21.8016
`
`
`
`5 Available from
`
`
`
`https://portal.3gpp.org/desktopmodules/Specifications/SpecificationDetails.aspx?s
`
`pecificationId=555
`
`6 Available from
`
`https://portal.3gpp.org/desktopmodules/Specifications/SpecificationDetails.aspx?s
`
`pecificationId=552
`
`22
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`IPR2023-00338
`F. Rodermund Decl.
`
`B.
`
`Specific Documents
`1. Oppo (R2-1801795)
` Based on my personal knowledge and my review of 3GPP’s business
`
`records, I recognize Ex-1005 as a true and correct copy of a 3GPP TDoc with
`
`document number R2-1801795, which represents a document with the title
`
`“Discussion on SI Request Prohibit Timer.” The document identifies its “source” as
`
`“OPPO.” Ex-1005. The 3GPP membership database identifies “OPPO” as
`
`Guangdong OPPO Mobile Telecommunications Corp., Ltd. Ex-1012. I refer to the
`
`technical contribution (R2-1801795, Ex-1005) as Oppo. Based on 3GPP numbering
`
`conventions, the “R2-18” in R2-1801795 means that this TDoc was submitted to a
`
`2018 RAN2 working group meeting.
`
` Oppo discussed the SI (System Information) prohibit timer for on-
`
`demand SI requests. On its face, Oppo refers to the RAN WG2 meeting #101 held
`
`on 26th February – 2nd March 2018, in Athens, Greece. Thus, based on my personal
`
`knowledge and experience with ETSI’s and 3GPP’s standard business practices, this
`
`information tells me that Oppo was available either prior to or during that meeting
`
`to at least all attending 3GPP members. The RAN WG2 group (abbreviated RAN2
`
`or R2) was responsible for the Radio Layer 2 and Layer 3 Radio Resource Control
`
`specifications. https://www.3gpp.org/3gpp-groups/radio-access-networks-ran/ran-
`
`wg2 (Ex-1013); 3GPP Specifications for Working Group RAN2, available at
`
`23
`
`
`
`https://www.3gpp.org/dynareport?code=TSG-WG--R2.htm
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`IPR2023-00338
`F. Rodermund Decl.
`(Ex-1014).
` Thus,
`
`anyone interested in keeping abreast of developments of Radio Layer 2 and Layer 3
`
`including the Radio Resource Control procedures being developed by the 3GPP
`
`would participate or be interested in the meetings and technical documents of RAN2,
`
`including the RAN2 #101 meeting in held in Greece and a document like Oppo
`
`discussed there. Such a person browsing the 3GPP website would understand that
`
`the website is structured to serve the purpose of the 3GPP organization, that is, to
`
`develop 3GPP standards through member meetings and communications such as
`
`RAN2#101 and its associated TDocs. Such person browsing the 3GPP website
`
`would recognize that documents are hosted under the meeting pages and organized
`
`by topic, just as they were for RAN2#101 and Oppo.
`
` The public availability of Oppo is further confirmed by the date stamp,
`
`February 13, 2018, shown using format DD.MM.YY on the 3GPP FTP server at
`
`
`
`https://www.3gpp.org/ftp/tsg_ran/WG2_RL2/TSGR2_101/Docs
`
`(Ex-1031),
`
`captured in the screenshot below:
`
`
`
`24
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`IPR2023-00338
`F. Rodermund Decl.
`
`
`
` Based on my experience and knowledge, the R2-1801795.zip file has
`
`been publicly available for download from the 3GPP server page shown above no
`
`later than February 13, 2018.
`
`
`
`In addition, metadata information for the downloaded and extracted
`
`TDoc file states a last Modified date of “13. February 2018,” as shown in the
`
`screenshot below:
`
`25
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`IPR2023-00338
`F. Rodermund Decl.
`
`
`
`
`
` The official meeting report of the RAN WG2 meeting #101 held on
`
`26th February – 2nd March 2018, can be found in Ex-1035. According to the 3GPP
`
`website at https://portal.3gpp.org/Meetings.aspx#/meeting?MtgId=18770
`
`(Ex-
`
`26
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`
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`IPR2023-00338
`F. Rodermund Decl.
`1030), which is shown by the screenshot below, that meeting was attended by 295
`
`individuals (out of 344 registered participants):
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
` The meeting report shows document R2-1801795, i.e. Oppo, listed on
`
`page 188 which clearly shows the document was a registered TDoc at this meeting.
`
`Ex-1035. Furthermore, the meeting report has a TDoc-list attached which can be
`
`27
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`
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`IPR2023-00338
`F. Rodermund Decl.
`found in Ex-1036. There, Oppo is included and the “TDoc Status” is mentioned as
`
`“available” and the “Uploaded” date is shown as “2018-02-13”. The relevant excerpt
`
`of the TDoc-list can be found below, which is a screen capt
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