- Microsoft Corporation v. Bradium Technologies LLCInstitution deniedPTAB · Dec 23, 2015 · IPR2015-01434 · APJ Brian J Mcnamara · IPR · Institution
The Board denied institution because Petitioner did not show a reasonable likelihood of prevailing on any challenged claim under the asserted obviousness grounds.
RulingsInstitution decision- PTAB / AIA Trials › Institution threshold (reasonable likelihood / more likely than not)Institution denied meritsInstitution denied
“to institute an inter partes review of claims 1–20 (the “challenged claims”) of U.S. Patent No. 7,908,343 B2 (“the ’343 Patent”). 35 U.S.C. § 311. Bradium Technologies LLC (“Patent Owner”) timely filed a Preliminary Response, Paper 12 (“Prelim. Resp.”), contending that the Petition should be denied as to all challenged claims. We have jurisdiction under 37 C.F.R. § 42.4(a) and 35 U.S.C. § 314, which provides that an inter partes review may not be instituted unless the information presented in the Petition “shows that there is a reasonable likelihood that the petitioner would prevail with respect to at least 1 of the claims challenged in the petition.”” slip op. at 2
- BurdenOther
“map each claim element to a particular teaching of an asserted reference. In particular, Patent Owner notes that, rather than state the claim language in the Petition, Petitioner provides Exhibit 1013, which breaks the claims into specific phrases and assigns each phrase a designation, e.g., 1.A, 1.B. Prelim. Resp. 32. Patent Owner argues that Petitioner’s approach improperly incorporates the claims by reference and that no relief can be granted unless the arguments in the Petition itself, of which the claims are an essential part, support granting the relief. Id. at 33. We agree that Petitioner’s use of an Exhibit to specify the claim elements and its failure to include the claim language anywhere in the Petition is an improper incorporation by reference. Nevertheless, although the claim language is not repeated in the Petition, the Petition contains a paragraph for most, if not all the claim element designations. Therefore, we do not dismiss the Petition on this basis alone.” slip op. at 11
- Claim Construction › Threshold & procedure › Whether a term needs construction (O2 Micro)Term construed board ownOther
“specification, neither “data parcel” nor “update data parcel” is defined explicitly in the ’343 Patent. The ’343 Patent refers to “source image data” being processed to obtain a series of K1-N derivative images of progressively lower image resolution. Ex. 1001, col. 6, ll. 6–6. The ’343 Patent also discloses the source image data corresponding to the series image K0 being subdivided into a regular array such that each resulting “image parcel” of the array has, for example, 64 by 64 pixel resolution, where the “image data” has a color or bit per pixel depth of 16 bits, which represents a “data parcel” size of 8 K bytes. Ex. 1001, col. 6, ll. 6–11. Thus, an image parcel is an element of a source image array that defines a source image and a data parcel is data that corresponds to an image parcel. In view of this disclosure, we construe “data parcel” to mean data that corresponds to an element of a source image array. We agree that no other specific claim construction is required and we accord the claim terms their ordinary meaning as used in the ’343 Patent specification.” slip op. at 9
- Novelty / Anticipation (§102) › Prior-art status of a reference › Patents / published applications (effective date, provisional support)Reference is prior artReference not prior artMixed
“REFERENCES ARGUED AS NOT APPLICABLE PRIOR ART Patent Owner contends that Petitioner has failed to demonstrate that Potmesil (Ex. 1002) and Lindstrom (Ex. 1004) constitute applicable prior art references. Prelim. Resp. 3–12. We addressed the same arguments as those advanced by Patent Owner in this proceeding in our Decision to Institute in related proceeding Microsoft Corp. v. Bradium Technologies LLC, Case IPP2015-01432, slip op. at 10–14 (PTAB Dec. 23, 2015)(Decision to Institute)3 and Microsoft corp. v. Bradium Technologies LLC, Case IPR2015-01435, slip op. at 8–16 (PTAB Dec. XX, 2015)4. We arrive at the same result in this proceeding and find that, although Petitioner has established that Potmesil is applicable as prior art, Petitioner has not established Lindstrom is prior art that may be applied in Petitioner’s challenge.” slip op. at 9
Claim construction§ 102 anticipation§ 103 obviousnesscites KSR · GrahamPatents in suitUS 7,908,343 - Microsoft Corporation v. Enfish, LLCSome claims unpatentablePTAB · Mar 2, 2015 · IPR2013-00561 · APJ Barbara A Parvis · IPR · Final written decision
Claims 46 and 54 were held unpatentable; claims 55, 56, and 60 were not shown unpatentable; claims 16, 24–26, and 30 were terminated because their means-plus-function limitation lacked sufficient disclosed structure.
RulingsFinal written decision- BurdenMixed
“Microsoft has shown by a preponderance of the evidence that claims 46 and 54 of the ’775 patent are unpatentable. Microsoft has not shown that claims 55, 56, and 60 of the ’775 patent are unpatentable. For the reasons discussed below, we are unable to reach a determination on the alleged grounds of unpatentability over prior art for claims 16, 24–26 and 30. Accordingly, we terminate this proceeding with respect to claims 16, 24–26 and 30 under 37 C.F.R. § 42.72.” slip op. at 3
- Claim Construction › Functional claiming / §112(f) means-plus-function › Corresponding structure / algorithm (indefinite if none)Decided for petitioner
“1249 (Fed. Cir. 2005)). Additionally, specific portions of the specification must clearly link or associate a computer program or algorithm to the function corresponding to the claimed means. See Medical Inst. & Diag. Corp. v. Elektra AB, 344 F.3d 1205, 1211 (Fed. Cir. 2003). For the reasons set forth below, we conclude that the four steps and other ’775 patent specification portions identified by Enfish do not describe an algorithm for the recited function of “configuring memory according to a logical table.” We further conclude that Enfish has not clearly linked or associated the recited function to the four steps or the portions of the ’775 patent specification that Enfish identifies.” slip op. at 10
- Claim Construction › Intrinsic evidence (Phillips canons) › Plain and ordinary meaning to a POSITATerm construed board ownDecided for petitioner
“We determine that Enfish’s proposed construction of OID introduces requirements beyond what is needed for an OID to identify data and retrieve data from memory. Enfish, for example, contends that “an OID is unique among all rows and columns of the logical table.” PO Resp. 29. Additionally, claims 46 and 54 recite that an OID is included “to identify” each attribute set and each record, but do not specifically recite using an OID to retrieve data from memory.” slip op. at 14
- Novelty / Anticipation (§102) › Anticipation standard (single reference, every element)UnpatentableUnpatentable
“80, PG 453, 471, 481, 482, 484, Ex. 1219 ¶¶ 67–93, 119–131). For example, we are persuaded that Microsoft has shown by a preponderance of the evidence that Visual Basic discloses configuring memory according to a logical table, as recited in claim 54. In the cited portions above, Visual Basic discloses storing data in a computer formatted as a table object, which is “a logical representation of a physical table.” Ex. 1204, LR 558. The table object comprises “records (rows) and fields (columns).” Id. As an additional example, we are persuaded that Microsoft has shown by a preponderance of the evidence that Visual Basic discloses each record and each attribute set including an OID, as recited in claim 54. In the cited portions above, Visual Basic describes assigning a primary key and that “[a] table’s primary key is the determining factor when testing to see if the record is unique within the table.” Ex. 1204, PF 39. According to Visual Basic “[Visual Basic] creates an index on the primary key of the table and uses it to find records and to create joins between tables.” Id. Regarding each column including an OID, according to Visual Basic, “[e]ach Field in the Fields collection of a TableDef has a unique value in the OrdinalPosition property.” Id. at LR 425. Furthermore, we are persuaded that Microsoft has shown by a preponderance of the evidence that Visual Basic discloses indexing data stored in the table and a cell including a pointer to an index record, as recited in claim 54. In the cited portions above, Visual Basic discloses an index object used for creating indexes to “speed up the process of finding records.” Ex. 1204, LR 276; see also id. at PF 37, 38, PG 482. Visual Basic also discloses a cell pointing to an index object. Id. at LR 280, PG 484.” slip op. at 17
Patent outcomesUS 6,163,775 mixedClaim construction§ 102 anticipation§ 103 obviousnesscites KSRPatents in suitUS 6,163,775
Holdings, summaries, rulings, issues, outcomes, winners and claim constructions shown for a decision were generated by a large language model reading the opinion. They are a guide to the decision, not the decision. Confirm every one against the court's own text before relying on it. Outcomes read from the patent owner’s side. Party names are extracted from the decision and are missing on about 900 short Director denials and scans, which carry the trial number instead.