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  • PTAB · Mar 24, 2016 · IPR2015-01987 · APJ David C Mckone · IPR · Institution

    The Board denied institution for claims 16–28 because the petition did not show a reasonable likelihood of prevailing on the asserted obviousness grounds.

    RulingsInstitution decision
    • PTAB / AIA Trials › Institution threshold (reasonable likelihood / more likely than not)Institution denied meritsInstitution denied

      “any explanation as to why a person of ordinary skill in the art would come to the conclusion that the priority field of a Packet Resource Request is a requested quality of service parameter for a TBF.” Prelim. Resp. 12. We agree. Petitioner’s only support for this argument is the testimony of Dr. Fuja who states, in conclusory fashion, and without citation to evidence, that “[a person of ordinary skill in the art] would recognize that in the context of a connection in the form of a TBF the PRIORITY field is a requested quality of service parameter that is part of request messages communicated by a mobile station to a decision making device.” Ex. 1009 ¶ 76. Dr. Fuja’s testimony includes little persuasive evidence or reasoning. Accordingly, we assign it little weight. See 37 C.F.R. § 42.65(a) (“Expert testimony that does not disclose the underlying facts or data on which the opinion is based is entitled to little or no weight.”). On this record, Petitioner is not reasonably likely to show that GSM 04.60’s description of establishment of a TBF teaches a request message “indicating at least one requested quality of service parameter associated with the requested communication connection,” as recited in claim 16. Each of independent claims 20, 24, and 25 includes a limitation substantially similar to claim 16’s “indicating at least one requested quality of service parameter associated with the requested communication connection.” For the same reasons, GSM 04.06’s disclosure of TBF establishment does not teach these similar limitations of claims 20, 24, and 25.” slip op. at 12

    • BurdenNot shown unpatentable

      “We agree with Patent Owner. Claim 16 requires that the apparatus be encoded to receive from a decision making device “a channel coding scheme corresponding to said at least one quality of service parameter.” Thus, Petitioner must show that the Channel Coding Command corresponds to the QoS Information Element, or its sub-fields, identified as the at least one quality of service parameter. Petitioner’s only identified evidence of such a correspondence is Dr. Fuja’s testimony that: A POSITA would understand that the channel coding scheme that is included in the CHANNEL_CODING_COMMAND as part of the PACKET UPLINK ASSIGNMENT and the Packet Uplink Ack/Nack message is selected by the network to satisfy the QoS Profile that was negotiated during the PDP context activation procedure under the existing channel conditions. Ex. 1009 ¶ 81. As Patent Owner argues (Prelim. Resp. 9), this testimony is conclusory and lacks any explanation as to why the Channel Coding Command is selected to satisfy the QoS profile. Prelim. Resp. 9. Aside from this conclusory statement, neither Petitioner nor Dr. Fuja points to any evidence that the selection of the Channel Coding Command of GSM 04.60 has any relationship to the QoS Information Element of GSM 03.60. Petitioner’s evidence and argument is insufficient to show that the Prior GSM/GPRS Specifications or Olofsson teach this limitation. Moreover, as explained above, Petitioner has not shown sufficiently that the Channel Coding Command is received from the SGSN, which Petitioner identifies as the “decision making device” of claim 16.” slip op. at 16

    • Expert testimonyPetitioner expert discountedDecided for patent owner

      “Patent Owner responds that “neither Petitioner nor its declarant offer any explanation as to why a person of ordinary skill in the art would come to the conclusion that the priority field of a Packet Resource Request is a requested quality of service parameter for a TBF.” Prelim. Resp. 12. We agree. Petitioner’s only support for this argument is the testimony of Dr. Fuja who states, in conclusory fashion, and without citation to evidence, that “[a person of ordinary skill in the art] would recognize that in the context of a connection in the form of a TBF the PRIORITY field is a requested quality of service parameter that is part of request messages communicated by a mobile station to a decision making device.” Ex. 1009 ¶ 76. Dr. Fuja’s testimony includes little persuasive evidence or reasoning. Accordingly, we assign it little weight. See 37 C.F.R. § 42.65(a) (“Expert testimony that does not disclose the underlying facts or data on which the opinion is based is entitled to little or no weight.”).” slip op. at 12

    • Obviousness (§103) › Motivation to combine / reasonable expectation of successNot reached

      “encoded to receive from a decision making device “a channel coding scheme corresponding to said at least one quality of service parameter.” Thus, Petitioner must show that the Channel Coding Command corresponds to the QoS Information Element, or its sub-fields, identified as the at least one quality of service parameter. Petitioner’s only identified evidence of such a correspondence is Dr. Fuja’s testimony that: A POSITA would understand that the channel coding scheme that is included in the CHANNEL_CODING_COMMAND as part of the PACKET UPLINK ASSIGNMENT and the Packet Uplink Ack/Nack message is selected by the network to satisfy the QoS Profile that was negotiated during the PDP context activation procedure under the existing channel conditions. Ex. 1009 ¶ 81. As Patent Owner argues (Prelim. Resp. 9), this testimony is conclusory and lacks any explanation as to why the Channel Coding Command is selected to satisfy the QoS profile. Prelim. Resp. 9. Aside from this conclusory statement, neither Petitioner nor Dr. Fuja points to any evidence that the selection of the Channel Coding Command of GSM 04.60 has any relationship to the QoS Information Element of GSM 03.60. Petitioner’s evidence and argument is insufficient to show that the Prior GSM/GPRS Specifications or Olofsson teach this limitation. Moreover, as explained above, Petitioner has not shown sufficiently that the Channel Coding Command is received from the SGSN, which Petitioner identifies as the “decision making device” of claim 16. We cannot conclude, on this record, that Petitioner is likely to show that the GSM/GPRS Specifications or Olofsson teach an apparatus encoded to “receive from said decision making device a channel coding scheme corresponding to said at least one quality of service parameter,” as recited in claim 16. The remaining independent claims have analogous limitations that Petitioner, for the same reasons, has failed to show in the Prior GSM/GPRS Specifications or Olofsson. Specifically, independent claim 20 recites “a receiver configured to receive from the network element, a channel coding scheme corresponding to said at least one quality of service parameter”; independent claim 24 recites “receive from said decision making device at least one of a channel coding and interleaving scheme corresponding to said at least one quality of service parameter”; and independent claim 25 recites “receiving from said decision making device a channel coding scheme corresponding to said at least one quality of service parameter.”” slip op. at 16

    Claim construction§ 102 anticipation§ 103 obviousnessDiscretionary denialcites KSR · Graham
  • PTAB · Nov 9, 2015 · CBM2015-00150 · APJ Bart A Gerstenblith · CBM · Institution

    The Board denied institution for claims 1–18 because Petitioner did not show that the patent was eligible for covered business method review.

    RulingsInstitution decision
    • PTAB / AIA Trials › Institution threshold (reasonable likelihood / more likely than not)Institution denied meritsInstitution denied

      “for the creation of a transitional program for reviewing covered business method patents. “The Director may institute a transitional proceeding only for a patent that is a covered business method patent.” Pub. L. No. 112-29, § 18(a)(1)(E), 125 Stat. 284, 330 (Sept. 16, 2011). A “covered business method patent” is a patent that “claims a method or corresponding apparatus for performing data processing or other operations used in the practice, administration, or management of a financial product or service, except that the term does not include patents for technological inventions.” Id. § 18(d)(1), 125 Stat. at 331; accord 37 C.F.R. § 42.301(a) (providing the same definition of “covered business method patent”). “The petitioner must demonstrate that the patent for which review is sought is a covered business method patent.” 37 C.F.R. § 42.304(a).” slip op. at 9

    • PTAB / AIA Trials › Other PTAB motions (exclude, strike, seal, additional discovery, rehearing)Denied

      “discussed above, a teleconference was held with the parties on November 5, 2015. Petitioner and Patent Owner jointly request authorization to file a motion for termination under 35 U.S.C. § 327, the statute governing termination of instituted post-grant reviews due to settlement, but confirmed during the call that no written settlement agreement currently exists. The parties request that the proceedings terminate without estoppel, such that Petitioner can re-file the petitions upon completion of Federal Circuit review of the District Court’s ineligibility determination, if necessary. Patent Owner limits its agreement to Petitioner re-filing the same petitions. Effectively, the parties request that we stay these proceedings pending Federal Circuit review of the District Court’s decision. We deny the parties’ request. As explained below, the ’120 patent is not eligible for covered business method patent review. Deferring entering such a decision is inconsistent with our policy objective of “secur[ing] the just, speedy, and inexpensive resolution of every proceeding.” 37 C.F.R. § 42.1. We do not reach, and, thus, express no opinion on, eligibility of the claims of the ’120 patent under 35 U.S.C. § 101.” slip op. at 3

    • Claim Construction › Threshold & procedure › Whether a term needs construction (O2 Micro)No construction neededOther

      “II. CLAIM CONSTRUCTION Although Petitioner presents constructions for several claim terms, no terms require express construction for purposes of this Decision.” slip op. at 9

    Claim constructionDiscretionary denial
    Patents in suitUS 8,843,120
  • PTAB · Jun 15, 2015 · CBM2015-00047 · APJ James B Arpin · CBM · Institution

    The Board denied institution on all challenged claims under § 325(d), finding the petition relied on the same references and substantially the same arguments presented in an earlier petition.

    RulingsInstitution decision
    • PTAB / AIA Trials › Discretionary denial › §325(d) same art / argumentsInstitution denied 325dInstitution denied

      “As noted above, according to 35 U.S.C. § 325(d), we may reject the present Petition because “the same or substantially the same prior art or arguments previously were presented to the Office” in the earlier Petition. (Emphasis added.) Here, Petitioner acknowledges that the same references are applied in the earlier and the present Petitions. Pet. 2 n.1; see Prelim. Resp. 3. On that basis alone, we may exercise our discretion and decline to institute covered business method patent review. Nevertheless, we also are persuaded that Petitioner asserts the same or substantially the same arguments in the present Petition that were asserted in the earlier Petition. First, although the Petitioner asserts that Peapod anticipates the challenged claims in the present Petition (Pet. 7), Petitioner asserted that each of Viescas, Filepp, and Peapod “individually may render the claims unpatentable” in the earlier Petition. CBM2014-00082, Paper 5, 18. Moreover, as we noted in the Decision on Institution in CBM2014- 00082, Petitioner argued in the earlier Petition that “each of the references— Viescas, Filepp, and Peapod—teaches or suggests all of the limitations of each of independent claims 1 ([CBM2014-00082, Paper 5,] 25–30) and 22 (id. at 42–51).” CBM2014-00082, Paper 10, 17–18. Second, with the exception of claims 16 and 42, Petitioner’s ground for challenging 1–3, 8– 12, 14, 15, 17, 18, 22, 24, 26–28, 30–32, 34, 41, and 44 in the present Petition is based on the same combination of references used to challenge those claims in the earlier Petition. Compare Pet. 42–78 with CBM2014- 00082, Paper 5, 20–75. In the present Petition, however, Petitioner allegedly “presents different legal arguments than those that were previously submitted and addresses the reasons relied on by the Board for not instituting CBM review [in CBM2014-00082].” Pet. 2 n.1. We are not persuaded by Petitioner’s unsupported contention, however, that the present Petition presents “different legal arguments.” Instead, for the reasons set forth above, in the present Petition, Petitioner simply recasts the facts in the context of the same legal arguments. See Prelim. Resp. 6–8.” slip op. at 10

    • Claim Construction › Threshold & procedure › Whether a term needs construction (O2 Micro)Not reached

      “we interpret any claim terms of the challenged claims according to the Phillips standard. Nevertheless, only terms that are in controversy need to be construed, and then only to the extent necessary to resolve the 3 We also note that Patent Owner has charged Petitioner with infringing one or more claims of the ’110 patent. Pet. 79. Petitioner certifies that it is not barred or estopped from challenging the claims on the grounds identified in its Petition. Id. at 2 (citing 37 C.F.R. § 42.302(b)). Patent Owner does not contest Petitioner’s certification. controversy. Vivid Techs., Inc. v. Am. Sci. & Eng’g, Inc., 200 F.3d 795, 803 (Fed. Cir. 1999). Here, because we reject the Petition without reaching the merits of Petitioner’s grounds for unpatentability regarding the challenged claims, it is not necessary for us to construe any term of the challenged claims.4” slip op. at 5

    Claim constructionDiscretionary denialcites Phillips
    Patents in suitUS 5,664,110
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