- Microsoft Corporation v. X1 Discovery, Inc.No claims unpatentablePTAB · Jun 18, 2026 · IPR2025-00253 · APJ Scott C Moore · IPR · Final written decision
Claims 1–10 were not shown unpatentable under either § 103 ground because the evidence did not establish a reason to combine the references or a reasonable expectation of success.
RulingsFinal written decision- Skill levelSkill level patent owner adoptedDecided for patent owner
“In our Decision on Institution, we adopted Mr. Haeberli’s formulation, finding it to be consistent with the evidence of record at this stage of the proceeding, including the asserted prior art and the ’035 patent. D.I. 8. Following a review of the full record, we agree with Mr. Haeberli’s statement that Petitioner’s definition of one of ordinary skill in the art is “not meaningfully different” from Mr. Haeberli’s for the purposes of this proceeding. We continue to view Mr. Haeberli’s proposed definition as consistent with the ’035 patent and the asserted prior art, and we apply it in our analysis below. However, our analysis of the issues below would have been the same had we instead adopted Petitioner’s proposed definition. C.” slip op. at 11
- Claim Construction › Threshold & procedure › Whether a term needs construction (O2 Micro)Term construed board ownDecided for patent owner
“In our Institution Decision, we construed the claim term “string separator character” to mean “a single-character string separator,” and invited the parties to raise any issues they had with this construction in future briefing. D.I. 10. Patent Owner subsequently indicated that it agreed with this construction. See PO Resp. 8. Petitioner did not raise any objections to this construction (see generally Pet. Reply). Accordingly, and in the absence of any dispute, we construe “string separator character” to mean “a single-character string separator.” Neither Petitioner nor Patent Owner ask us to adopt explicit constructions of any other claim terms. See Pet. 14, PO Resp. 8–9; Pet. Reply 1–23; PO Sur-reply 2–7. We also find that the issues in dispute can be resolved without construing any other claim terms. Accordingly, we do not adopt explicit constructions of any other claim terms. See Realtime Data, LLC v. Iancu, 912 F.3d 1368, 1375 (Fed. Cir. 2019) (“The Board is required to construe ‘only those terms … that are in controversy, and only to the extent necessary to resolve the controversy.’”) (quoting Vivid Techs., Inc. v. Am. Sci. & Eng’g, Inc., 200 F.3d 795, 803 (Fed. Cir. 1999)). D.” slip op. at 12
- Obviousness (§103) › Motivation to combine / reasonable expectation of successNot shown unpatentableMotivation not foundNot shown unpatentable
“search functionalities disclosed in the Lotus Notes References and Raskin are materially different in such a way as to render combining them anything but simple and straightforward.” See PO Resp. 26–27. Indeed, Petitioner has given little or no explanation of how one of ordinary skill in the art allegedly would have taken the “idea of incremental search” and applied it to Lotus Notes. See, e.g., Ex. 2021, 116:20–117:17 (Petitioner’s declarant, Dr. Terveen, testifying that “Raskin is not explicitly talking about searching across a set of documents, but the teaching that I relied on in general from Raskin is the idea of incremental searching,” and “I did not have to talk about implementation level details or incorporating a particular implementation. That wasn’t necessary for my opinion.”). Raskin simply does not teach a mode of incremental searching that applies to the query-style, document-finding searching of the type Petitioner cites from Lotus Notes. See generally Ex. 1021; see also Ex. 2020 ¶¶ 34–35 (Mr. Haeberli contrasting the Lotus Notes searches cited by Petitioner with Raskin’s searches). Raskin even states that it is “difficult or impossible to implement incremental searches” using interface-building tools. Ex. 1021, 126; Ex. 2020 ¶ 60 (Mr. Haeberli’s testimony that this passage of Raskin “directly undermines Dr. Terveen’s suggestion that a POSITA would have been motivated to implement Raskin’s incremental search approach in the Lotus Notes system”).” slip op. at 24
Patent outcomesUS 7,370,035 not shown unpatentableClaim construction§ 103 obviousnesscites Phillips · GrahamPatents in suitUS 7,370,035 - Microsoft Corporation v. X1 Discovery, Inc.No claims unpatentablePTAB · Jun 18, 2026 · IPR2025-00254 · APJ Lisa A Murray · IPR · Final written decision
Claims 1–20 were not shown unpatentable under either §103 ground because Petitioner failed to establish motivation to combine and a reasonable expectation of success.
RulingsFinal written decision- Skill levelSkill level patent owner adoptedDecided for patent owner
“29. In my opinion, the POSITA at the time of the alleged invention of the Asserted Patents would have had a (1) a Bachelor’s degree in a pertinent discipline, such as computer science, electric engineering, computer engineering, or a related field and (2) have 2–4 years of experience in working with computing devices and have an understanding of indexed search systems utilized by such computing devices. 30. I am aware that Petitioner has provided its own definition . . . . 31. I believe Petitioner’s definition is not meaningfully different from my definition of a POSITA. My opinions would not change regardless of which definition of POSITA is applied. Ex. 2001 ¶¶ 29–31. In our Decision on Institution, we adopted Mr. Haeberli’s formulation, finding it to be consistent with the evidence then of record, including the asserted prior art and the ’490 patent. Dec. 9. Following a review of the full record, we agree with Mr. Haeberli’s statement that Petitioner’s definition of one of ordinary skill in the art is “not meaningfully different” from Mr. Haeberli’s for the purposes of this proceeding. We continue to view Mr. Haeberli’s proposed definition as consistent with the ’490 patent and the asserted prior art, and we apply it in our analysis below. However, our analysis of the issues below would have been the same had we instead adopted Petitioner’s proposed definition.” slip op. at 9
- Claim Construction › Threshold & procedure › Whether a term needs construction (O2 Micro)No construction neededNot reached
“In our Decision on Institution, the only term that we found it necessary to construe was the term “string separator character” in claim 1. We preliminarily construed this term to mean “a single-character string separator.” Dec. 11, 30–31. We invited the parties to address the appropriateness of this construction over the course of the trial. Id. at 11, 31. In its briefing, Patent Owner agrees with the Board’s preliminary construction, arguing that it is “consistent with the intrinsic evidence.” PO Resp. 8 (citing Ex. 1001, claims 8 and 20). Patent Owner further argues that a person of ordinary skill would have understood a multi-character Boolean operator such as “AND” to be “a search syntax instruction rather than a string separator.” Id. at 9 (citing Ex. 1059, 162; Ex. 2001 ¶ 112). Petitioner’s Reply Brief does not address the issue of claim construction. See generally Reply Br.; see also Pet. 11 (“Unless otherwise noted, Petitioner applies the plain and ordinary meaning of all claim terms below.”). Following our review of the full record, we determine that it is not necessary to construe this or any other claim term for the purposes of this Decision.2 See Nidec Motor Corp. v. Zhongshan Broad Ocean Motor Co., 868 F.3d 1013, 1017 (Fed. Cir. 2017) (Only terms that are in controversy need to be construed, and then only to the extent necessary to resolve the controversy.). In our analysis below, we interpret the language of the claims according to its plain and ordinary meaning.” slip op. at 10
- Expert testimonyPetitioner expert discountedPatent owner expert creditedDecided for patent owner
“Having reviewed the evidence of record, we find Mr. Haeberli’s testimony to be more persuasive and better supported by the evidence. According to Dr. Terveen, “[r]obust programming languages such as C and C++, together with well-developed operating system and UI frameworks, . . . allowed an ordinary programmer to build a UI that supported incremental searching, as evidenced by the numerous prior art systems that implemented such functionality, including Entourage, Eudora, Emacs, Canon Cat, SwyftWare, and others. Ex. 1100 ¶ 43 (citing Ex. 1004, 8–9, 161; Ex. 1021, 125, 127, 129; Ex. 1039, 102–103; Ex. 1043, 385–389). The relevant question, though, is not whether it would have been possible to build a user interface that supported incremental search, but whether it would have been “simple and straightforward” to execute an incremental search of multiple partial search strings on large, indexed multi-file databases such as those described in the Lotus Notes references, as Dr. Terveen alleges. None of the prior art discussed in the “State of the Art” section of Dr. Terveen’s initial declaration, taken individually or together, discloses incrementally searching a plurality of files using two partial search strings. See Ex. 1003 ¶¶ 32–33, 37, 40; Ex. 2001 ¶ 100. Thus, creating a user interface might be “simple,” but the evidence suggests that the back-end execution of an incremental search is not. See, e.g., Ex. 1021, 126 (Raskin, concluding that “almost all interface-building tools make it easy to implement delimited searches and difficult or impossible to implement incremental searches”).” slip op. at 23
- Obviousness (§103) › Motivation to combine / reasonable expectation of successMotivation not foundNot shown unpatentable
“different approach from that taken in Lotus Notes. The difference between Raskin’s sequential scanning method and the index-based system described in Wilcox is that sequential scanning by definition can only scan one document at a time as each document is loaded into a “buffer.” See, e.g., Ex. 2020 ¶ 35. Lotus Notes, however, only needs to load the index into memory for a user to be able to locate the single index entry identifying all instances of an indexed term across all indexed files. In fact, Raskin acknowledges that indexing may be necessary to maintain an acceptable response time. Ex. 1021, 132 n.10; see also id. at 129 (indexing speeds search times). Mr. Haeberli’s third and final reason for concluding that one of ordinary skill would not have been motivated to combine Raskin’s incremental search with Lotus Notes is that at the time using incremental searches would have presented “extreme technical difficulties.” Ex. 2001 ¶ 101. Here again we find Mr. Haeberli’s explanation more persuasive than Dr. Terveen’s opinion that combining the teachings from Raskin with Lotus Notes’ teachings “would have required only simple and straightforward software modifications.” Ex. 1003 ¶ 80. According to Mr. Haeberli, “there are serious technical challenges with implementing the complex search strategies of the challenged claims in the systems on which Dr. Terveen relies.” Id. ¶ 96. As Patent Owner argues: searching across a set of files to find specific files requires the system to identify which files are in the set, access those files (which are often not loaded in active memory), search their contents, determine which files contain matches to search criteria, and then present results to the user; all tasks that do not exist in the same way (or at all) for a search confined to text in a single open file already loaded into memory. Sur-Reply 9; see Ex. 2020 ¶¶ 15, 35–36. There would have been other challenges as well. For example, “[t]he type of sequential scanning typically employed to search a single open document is very time and resource intensive if employed to search a large set of documents.” Ex. 2020 ¶ 15. Also, “[i]mplementing incremental search in the Lotus Notes indexed system would necessarily require a larger index, which would slow down, rather than increase the search speed.” PO Resp. 23; see Ex. 2020 ¶ 33. Finally, Raskin itself concludes that “even if incremental searching is advantageous, ‘almost all interface-building tools make it easy to implement delimited searches and difficult or impossible to implement incremental searches.’” Ex. 2001 ¶ 96 (emphasis added by Mr. Haeberli) (quoting Ex. 1021, 126). In short, Mr. Haeberli presents three significant reasons why there would have been no motivation or expectation of success in combining the teachings of Wilcox with those of Raskin. Dr. Terveen’s opinion to the contrary, on the other hand, is not supported by evidence. Dr. Terveen testifies that “[a] POSITA would have been motivated to perform Lotus Notes’ multi-string search incrementally for the reasons stated by Raskin: speed, effectiveness, and ease of use.” Ex. 1003 ¶ 78 (citing Ex. 1021 ¶¶ 125–127). The evidence, however, not only fails to support Dr. Terveen’s testimony, but also demonstrates that one attempting to make the proposed combination would not have reasonably expected the proposed combination to result in greater speed or effectiveness.” slip op. at 27
Patent outcomesUS 10,552,490 not shown unpatentableClaim construction§ 103 obviousnesscites KSRPatents in suitUS 10,552,490 - Microsoft Corp. v. X1 Discovery, Inc.No claims unpatentablePTAB · Jun 18, 2026 · IPR2025-00255 · APJ William V Saindon · IPR · Final written decision
Claims 1–27 were not shown unpatentable under either §103 ground because Petitioner did not establish a persuasive reason to combine the cited teachings with adequate factual support.
RulingsFinal written decision- Skill levelSkill level patent owner adoptedDecided for patent owner
“Patent Owner does not comment on Petitioner’s formulation of the level of ordinary skill, or offer its own formulation in its Response. Patent Owner’s declarant, however, states: 29. In my opinion, the POSITA at the time of the alleged invention of the Asserted Patents would have had a (1) a Bachelor’s degree in a pertinent discipline, such as computer science, electric engineering, computer engineering, or a related field and (2) have 2–4 years of experience in working with computing devices and have an understanding of indexed search systems utilized by such computing devices. 30. I am aware that [Petitioner] has provided its own definition . . . . 31. I believe [Petitioner’s] definition is not meaningfully different from my definition of a POSITA. My opinions would not change regardless of which definition of POSITA is applied. Ex. 2001 ¶¶ 29–31. In our Decision on Institution, we adopted Patent Owner’s formulation, finding it to be consistent with the evidence of record at this stage of the proceeding, including the asserted prior art and the ’139 patent. Dec. on Inst. 8. Following a review of the full record, we agree that Petitioner’s definition of one of ordinary skill in the art is “not meaningfully different” from Patent Owner’s for the purposes of this proceeding. We continue to view Patent Owner’s proposed definition as consistent with the ’139 patent and the asserted prior art, and we apply it in our analysis below. However, our analysis of the issues below would have been the same had we instead adopted Petitioner’s proposed definition.” slip op. at 10
- Claim Construction › Threshold & procedure › Whether a term needs construction (O2 Micro)Term construed patent owner constructionOther
“Petitioner does not assert any explicit claim constructions. Pet. 12. In our Decision on Institution, the Board construed “string separator character” as “a single-character string separator.” Dec. on Inst. 10, 28–29. Patent Owner explicitly agreed with this construction in its Response (Resp. 8–9), and Petitioner offered no further comment in its Reply. Although no claim construction issue is squarely before us now, we maintain our prior construction of “string separator character,” and do not construe any further limitations. See Realtime Data, LLC v. Iancu, 912 F.3d 1368, 1375 (Fed. Cir. 2019) (“The Board is required to construe ‘only those terms . . . that are in controversy, and only to the extent necessary to resolve the controversy.’”) (quoting Vivid Techs., Inc. v. Am. Sci. & Eng’g, Inc., 200 F.3d 795, 803 (Fed. Cir. 1999)).” slip op. at 11
- Obviousness (§103) › Motivation to combine / reasonable expectation of successMotivation not foundReasonable expectation not foundNot shown unpatentable
“We agree with Patent Owner that a problem with Petitioner’s combination is that it proposes to take the idea of incremental searching from Raskin and divorce it from Raskin’s teaching of incremental searching. See PO Resp. 20 (arguing, “a [person of ordinary skill in the art] must consider all the teachings of a reference, and not pick out general ‘concepts’ disclosed in the art without considering the context in which they are used”); see also id. at 17–28 (setting out the whole argument); Ex. 2020 ¶¶ 39–62 (Patent Owner’s declarant explaining why Petitioner’s approach is “technically problematic”). Raskin’s incremental search is tied to finding and moving to character strings within a document. Ex. 1021, 125. For example, if a user were to type a string that was found in the text, “the instance [of that string] is selected and the cursor placed immediately after the end of the selection.” Id. The cursor can move about the text as characters of the search string are added or deleted. Id. at 125–126. Thus, Raskin discloses in-text search, even when searching across documents. Id. at 132 (“After the local document has been completely searched the search then proceeds through the following documents until the end of the folder is reached, when the search continues from the beginning of the first document in the folder until the current, already searched document is reached. After cycling through the folder, the next larger domain is treated similarly, and so forth.”). Raskin even distinguishes its text-finding search from Lotus Notes’ document-finding search, stating that “[i]t is usually easy to tell in what domain you are searching, because you see the results in context; what you see is not just a list of file names, as with many present search systems.” Id. (emphasis added); see also PO Sur-reply 16 (citing the same page and arguing that “Raskin recommends doing the opposite of what is claimed”). This context gives credence to Patent Owner’s argument that “the search functionalities disclosed in the Lotus Notes References and Raskin are materially different in such a way as to render combining them anything but simple and straightforward.” PO Resp. 26–27. Indeed, Petitioner has given little-to-no explanation of how one takes the “idea of incremental search” and applies it to Lotus Notes. Ex. 2021, 116:20–117:17 (Petitioner’s declarant testifying that “Raskin is not explicitly talking about searching across a set of documents [at once], but the teaching that I relied on in general from Raskin is the idea of incremental searching,” and “I did not have to talk about implementation level details or incorporating a particular implementation. That wasn’t necessary for my opinion.”). Raskin does not teach a mode of incremental searching that applies to the query-style, document-finding searching in Lotus Notes. See generally Ex. 1021; see also Ex. 2020 ¶¶ 34–35 (Patent Owner’s declarant contrasting Lotus Notes and Raskin). Raskin even states that it is “difficult or impossible to implement incremental searches” using standard interface-building tools. Ex. 1021, 126; Ex. 2020 ¶ 60 (Patent Owner’s declarant stating that this passage “directly undermines [Petitioner’s declarant’s] suggestion that a [person of ordinary skill in the art] would have been motivated to implement Raskin’s incremental search approach in the Lotus Notes system”).” slip op. at 34
- Obviousness (§103) › Motivation to combine / reasonable expectation of success › HindsightMotivation not foundNot shown unpatentable
“Entourage and what True is doing and how it is doing it, Petitioner asserts that it would have been obvious to use True’s two search strings “to provide more targeted searching, as was common sense and well known in the art.” Pet. 60 (citing Pet. 8–9; Ex. 1057, 27); see also id. at 56, 66 (similar). But we are not persuaded by a preponderance of the evidence that True provides more targeted searching or better search results when finding documents. True itself appears silent on the issue. Petitioner cites Exhibit 1057, but all that stands for is the general premise that doing a Boolean AND search in a Web search engine reduces the number of search results. Ex. 1057, 27. Petitioner does not allege that True uses a Boolean AND search of the kind discussed in Exhibit 1057. Thus, the statement in Exhibit 1057 regarding reducing the number of search results is tied to a manner of performing Boolean searches, something Petitioner does not use to modify Entourage. In other words, Exhibit 1057 is of little relevance to the Entourage-True combination, and does not serve as a factual underpinning in support of Petitioner’s reasoning. Petitioner also cites to several other references that discuss Boolean-style searches, but these generic background disclosures do not explain why a person of ordinary skill in the art would have considered it obvious to use one or more features of the probabilistic-based interest level search from True in a document-finding application like Entourage. See Pet. 8–9 (string citing over a dozen references with no pinpoint citations). Accordingly, there appears to be little reason, absent hindsight, to incorporate some aspect of a text-as-proxy-for-sounds system like True into Entourage’s filter or Find feature to provide more targeted searching. Accord Ex. 2020 ¶ 120 (“Patent Owner’s declarant stating that “a [person of ordinary skill in the art] working on the problem of searching large document collections would not look to [True,] a system designed for navigating imprecise transcriptions of single audio files, as the technical approaches and constraints are entirely different”). Patent Owner argues, and we agree, that another problem with Petitioner’s combination is that True does not appear to actually provide more targeted or better searching. PO Resp. 59–60 (“True’s search capabilities are inherently imprecise”) (citing Ex. 1009, 1:18–27; Ex. 2001 ¶ 137); see also Ex. 1009, 4:31–37 (explaining that True uses a speech recognition system that calculates confidence levels based on a “% likelihood that [a word] corresponds to the portion of the digitized audio [at a given time]”); Ex. 2020 ¶ 114 (Patent Owner’s declarant stating that “the purpose of True is not to definitively locate where a search string actually appears”). Petitioner does not explain what about True would make some aspect of Entourage’s filter or Find features more targeted. Even if it was known to use Boolean AND searches, for example, Petitioner is not citing True to modify Entourage to have a Boolean search. True uses an “interest level” search instead, which is more inclusive than a Boolean AND search (it adds together hits for “queen” OR “mother,” and may return hits containing neither). Ex. 1009, 5:29–50, Fig. 2 (showing results list 22 having several results which do not indicate any of the searched-for words); see Ex. 2020 ¶ 116 (Patent Owner’s declarant analyzing True’s interest level search would also include “text [that] does not show the query word”). Petitioner does not appear to be proposing to incorporate an interest level search or a Boolean-style search into the filter or Find features, and we are not persuaded that True in fact provides more targeted searching. Even if the quality of the transcripts in True happened to be perfect (see Pet. Reply 10, arguing that “True describes searching a text file that has 100% accuracy”), the fact remains that True attempts to find text in particular time windows using an interest level search based on the probability that a word or words were spoken in a given time window, which is completely different from what Entourage is doing with its search (see Ex. 2020 ¶¶ 114–116, 121). In its Reply, Petitioner states that True teaches “an incremental search for multiple search strings entered in a search field.” Pet. Reply. 10. This is a broad generalization of what True does, made with the benefit of hindsight, but as we have just explained, True’s interest level search is different from the kinds of searches done in Entourage or even the Boolean-style web searches performed in the background references. See, e.g., Ex. 1057, 27. This means it is not a matter of taking one known teaching and simply applying it to another system. True is doing something different, and it’s not clear how True’s search would actually provide “precise, targeted search results” (Pet. Reply 3) given that True appears to suggest a less-targeted search than claimed (see, e.g., Ex. 1001, 29:62–63, claiming “identifying one or more documents included in both the first one or more documents and the second one or more documents”). See also Ex. 2001 ¶¶ 135 (Patent Owner’s declarant stating that “Entourage and True are directed to completely different purposes”), 136–138 (further analysis); Ex. 2020 ¶ 114 (stating that “the purpose of True is not to definitively locate where a search string actually appears”), ¶ 116 (stating that True returns text that does not even have the search word). True does not teach, suggest, or support Petitioner’s general premise that there is a benefit for an incremental search for multiple search strings entered in a search field or that such searches would provide precise, targeted search results. The problem with Petitioner’s analysis becomes more apparent when the Petition turns to the “string separator character” of claim 1. Notably, it is the claimed string separator character that converts a field with a single search string into a field with two search strings. See, e.g., Ex. 1098, 37:12– 41–4 (deposition of Patent Owner’s declarant) (discussing that a string separator character is what instructs the computer to break up one string of characters into separate strings of characters). Thus, one cannot discuss the string separator character apart from the limitations requiring first and second search strings in a single search field. Nevertheless, Petitioner treats the “string separator character” in isolation. See Pet. 61–62. Petitioner’s reason for modifying one or both of Entourage’s filter and/or Find feature(s) to have a string separator character is because “it was common to [use string separator characters].” Id. at 61. However, even if something was known, it does not mean it is obvious to incorporate it into one or both of these features in Entourage. KSR, 550 U.S. at 418 (“a patent composed of several elements is not proved obvious merely by demonstrating that each of its elements was, independently, known in the prior art”). Adding a string separator character to divide a single string into two separately searched strings changes how the software would function. See Ex. 1098, 39:22–40:8 (Patent Owner’s declarant testifying that software has to look for a string separator character in order to know multiple search strings were entered in the field). The space character in “Orson Welles,” used in the Advanced Find example in Barber, for example, is not a string separator character because one looking to exclude hits with “Orson Welles” is searching for the string “Orson Welles”—the space is another character in the name string whose inclusion serves a specific semantic purpose (delineating between a first and last name). See Ex. 2001 ¶ 151 (“there is no evidence that when a user types ‘Orson Welles’ into this Find command text box that a search is performed on ‘Orson’ and ‘Welles’ separately as opposed to searching on the full text string ‘Orson Welles.’”); Ex. 1006, 387 (discussing how exclude the specific person “Orson Welles” from the search, not to find someone having the first name “Orson” or the last name “Welles”); see also Ex. 1003 ¶ 144 (Petitioner’s declarant implicitly acknowledging that the space in “Orson Welles” is not a string separator character). Thus, the space character in “Orson Welles” does not signal to the computer to break the string up into two parts at the space and perform” slip op. at 42
Patent outcomesUS 9,633,139 not shown unpatentableClaim construction§ 103 obviousnesscites KSR · GrahamPatents in suitUS 9,633,139 - Google LLC / Lenovo (United States) Inc. v. Ericsson ABAll claims unpatentablePTAB · Mar 23, 2026 · IPR2025-00003 · APJ Norman H Beamer · IPR · Final written decision
Claims 1–8, 10, 12, 14, and 16–20 are unpatentable under § 103; the Board denied Patent Owner’s revised motion to amend.
RulingsFinal written decision- Skill levelSkill level petitioner adoptedDecided for petitioner
“[W]ould have had a bachelor’s degree in computer science, computer engineering, electrical engineering, or a related field, and 2–3 years of practical engineering experience relating to information security systems that employ cryptographic keys to encrypt/decrypt digital data. Additional education could substitute for professional experience, or significant experience in the field could substitute for formal education. Ex. 1003 ¶ 41. Patent Owner agrees with Petitioner’s expert regarding the level of ordinary skill in the art. RMTA 19. Patent Owner’s declarant, Dr. Villasenor, notes that “obviousness must be viewed from the perspective of one of ordinary skill in the field of information security using cryptographic keys for encryption and decryption of digital data, and my opinions are rendered on the basis of the definition of the ordinary artisan set forth in the Petition in view of that further clarification.” Ex. 2010 ¶ 19. Based on a review of the record, we adopt Petitioner’s proposed level of ordinary skill in the art because it is consistent with the evidence of record, including the asserted prior art and ’178 patent specification. Okajima v. Bourdeau, 261 F.3d 1350, 1355 (Fed. Cir. 2001).” slip op. at 11
- Expert testimonyOther
“In reply, Patent Owner substantially repeats its arguments against Petitioner’s reliance on Peterka for the claim 1 content encryption key identifiers requirements. Reply RMTA 8–9 (citing Ex. 1005 ¶ 121; Ex. 2010 ¶¶ 89, 93–95); see RMTA 14–15. We are not persuaded by these arguments for the reasons discussed in Section III.D.2.e)(2) above.” slip op. at 65
- Obviousness (§103) › Motivation to combine / reasonable expectation of successMotivation foundReasonable expectation foundDecided for petitioner
“Patent Owner argues that there was no motivation to combine Peterka with Suzuki because Petitioner has argued that “Peterka can already identify content keys by using the allegedly unique sequence numbers or time stamps assigned to each message carrying a single content key.” PO Resp. 41–42 (citing Pet. 25). Patent Owner also challenges motivation to combine Suzuki because it “is not directed to a pay-by-time, pay-per-view, or subscription distribution model, in which a content key grants access to content that different clients must individually decide to purchase in discrete units or increments.” Id. at 36–37. Petitioner responds that, because Peterka disclosed alternative embodiments that did not use sequence numbers or time stamps to identify EMM/ECM messages, one of ordinary skill would have been motivated specifically assign identifications to individual keys as taught in Suzuki. Reply 22 (citing Pet. 26). Petitioner also argues that whether Suzuki was directed to unpurchased content was irrelevant, because Suzuki is cited to show multiple key responses were conventional. Id. at 19–20. Patent Owner does not otherwise specifically address the issue of motivation to combine Peterka, Suzuki, and Bocharov. See generally PO Resp. Nonetheless the burden remains on Petitioner to demonstrate unpatentability. See Dynamic Drinkware, 800 F.3d at 1378. We find, based on the record, that Petitioner has proved by a preponderance of the evidence that a person of ordinary skill in the art would have had reason to combine the teachings of Peterka, Suzuki, and Bocharov as proffered by Petitioner with a reasonable expectation of success.” slip op. at 45
- ScopeMotion to amend, deniedDenied
“We agree with Petitioner that the substitute claims are broadening. Because the amended wording only requires the key request to be made “in response to detecting” the boundary, rather than “ahead of” the boundary, the request can occur before or after the boundary. This is not a fanciful or unlikely possibility — such delayed requests are specifically contemplated by the ’178 patent: [I]f the packager 104 is unable to obtain a new content encryption key from the WFM 102 prior to the expiration of the current content encryption key, the packager 104 will continue to use the current content encryption key until such time as it is able to obtain a new key from the WFM 102. Ex. 1001, 6:32–37. It should be noted that the fixed period duration for key rotation may be viewed as a "target" period, as the packager 104 may not expire a key on the exact boundary. Ex. 1001, 8:9–11. The key expiration time from the WFM 102 may be viewed as a "suggested" expiration time, as the packager 104 may not be able to expire the key at the exact specified time.” slip op. at 56
Patent outcomesUS 9,313,178 unpatentable§ 103 obviousnesscites Phillips · KSR · GrahamPatents in suitUS 9,313,178 - Google LLC / Lenovo (United States) Inc. v. Ericsson ABAll claims unpatentablePTAB · Mar 23, 2026 · IPR2025-00004 · APJ Georgianna W Braden · IPR · Final written decision
Claims 1–7, 9, 11–17, and 19 are unpatentable under §103; the revised motion to amend proposing substitute claims 21–36 is denied.
RulingsFinal written decision- PTAB / AIA Trials › Motions to amend / substitute claimsMotion to amend, deniedDenied
“Board first must determine whether the motion to amend meets the statutory and regulatory requirements set forth in 35 U.S.C. § 316(d) and 37 C.F.R. § 42.121.” Lectrosonics, Paper 15 at 4 (PTAB Feb. 25, 2019) (precedential). Accordingly, a patent owner must provide a claim listing reproducing each proposed substitute claim, and must make an initial showing to demonstrate the following: (1) the amendment proposes a reasonable number of substitute claims; (2) the proposed claims are supported in the original disclosure (and any earlier filed disclosure for which the benefit of the earlier filing date is sought); (3) the amendment responds to a ground of unpatentability involved in the trial; and (4) the amendment does not seek to enlarge the scope of the claims of the patent or introduce new subject matter. See 35 U.S.C. § 326(d); 37 C.F.R. § 42.121.” slip op. at 60
- Expert testimonyOther
“Accordingly, we agree with Petitioner’s contentions regarding the” slip op. at 28
- Skill levelOther
“C. Level of Ordinary Skill in the Art In determining the level of ordinary skill in the art, various factors” slip op. at 14
Patent outcomesUS 11,122,313 unpatentableNonecites Phillips · KSR · GrahamPatents in suitUS 11,122,313 - Google LLC v. Mindbasehq, LLCAll claims unpatentablePTAB · Mar 16, 2026 · IPR2021-01252 · APJ Kara L Szpondowski · IPR · Remand
On remand, claims 14–19, 33–40, and 43–46 were held unpatentable as obvious; the Federal Circuit’s affirmed findings leave claims 1–13, 20–32, 41, and 42 unpatentable as well.
RulingsRemand decision- RemandOther
“to both cases vacating and remanding in part and affirming in part our Final Written Decisions. Appeal Dec. With respect to Petitioner’s appeals, the Federal Circuit addressed the “dictionary routine” claims (claims 14–19 and 33–40) and the “normalization” claims (claims 43–46). Appeal Dec. 7–14. For the “dictionary routine” claims, the Federal Circuit vacated and remanded, stating that In sum, as Google contends and we now hold, the “dictionary routine” claims can be practiced by use of an already-created dictionary, and do not also require the automatic creation of a dictionary. The Board needs to consider Google’s evidence and argument by applying this construction of the automatically classifying and storing limitation, and using this understanding to determine whether Conlon may, in fact, render the “dictionary routine” claims obvious (and, relatedly, whether its prior distinctions of Conlon may be immaterial). Appeal Dec. 10–11. For the “normalization” claims, the Federal Circuit also vacated and remanded, stating that our “decision to exclude Google’s rebuttal argument and supplemental declaration is based on a clear factual error,” so on remand we “must include evaluation of the evidence and argument Google provided in reply.” Id. at 13–14. With respect to Patent Owner’s cross-appeals, the Federal Circuit affirmed. Id. at 14–16.” slip op. at 3
- Claim Construction › Intrinsic evidence (Phillips canons) › Plain and ordinary meaning to a POSITATerm construed petitioner constructionDecided for petitioner
“The Federal Circuit concluded that Petitioner’s construction of “automatically classifying and storing” (as recited in limitation [14.3]), is correct. Appeal Dec. 8. That is, “the ‘dictionary routine’ claims can be practiced by [the] use of an already-created dictionary, and do not also require the automatic creation of a dictionary.” Id. at 10; see also Reply 7 (the limitation is “directed to the use of a dictionary function to automatically look up words and their syntax”); Appeal Dec. 8 (“nothing about the term . . . would inform a person of ordinary skill in the art that automatic ‘creation’ of a database, in addition to the ‘use’ of an already-created database, is a requirement of the dictionary routine claims”); id. (“the plain and ordinary meaning of the claim language is broad enough to include ‘use’”); id. (agreeing with Petitioner that “the specification describes the ‘dictionary routine’ as the act of looking up words already in the database”); id. at 9 (stating that “[i]t is notable, as well, that the specification nowhere describes automatically creating a dictionary; all instances of creating dictionary entries rely, at least in part, on manual data entry by users”). As directed by the Federal Circuit, we will apply this construction in our analysis.8 Id. 8 Patent Owner argues that the Federal Circuit “cherry-picks” and misinterprets the patents’ specifications, and “ignores the clearly contrary specification language.” PO Remand Br. 4–5, 10; id. at 8 (arguing that that the specification clearly set forth the definition of the claim term, and “the Board must accept term definitions . . . above all external definitions”). We do not consider these arguments on the construction of this limitation, because the Federal Circuit has directed us to proceed under its construction of the limitation. We also agree with Petitioner that the Federal Circuit’s claim construction is “foreclosed from further consideration” under its” slip op. at 17
- Obviousness (§103) › Motivation to combine / reasonable expectation of successUnpatentableMotivation foundUnpatentable
“We agree with Petitioner that claim 43 is obvious over the combination of Conlon, Miller, and Fong. The Federal Circuit stated, “[i]n this context, ‘normalization’ generally refers to de-duplicating and simplifying database entries (for instance, combining entries for ‘car’ and ‘automobile’).” Appeal Dec. 4 (cited at Pet. Response Br. 5). This is consistent with the disclosure in the ’433 patent. E.g., Ex. 1001, 16:55– 17:24 (discussing, for example, “recogniz[ing] that the differently named data elements in different structures are actually the same data element . . . is referred to as normalizing the names of the same data elements,” “recogniz[ing] that the same named data elements in different structures are actually different data elements . . . is referred to as normalizing the names of the different data elements,” and “normalizing multiple single data elements”). This is also consistent with how Fong describes “normalization.” Ex. 1029, 76 (The “Function” of “Normaliz[ing] the collection of entities” is to “[r]emove redundancies and detect errors”); see also Ex. 1057 ¶ 226. Patent Owner’s arguments that Fong’s normalization is “different” from the normalization described in the ’433 patent does not persuasively rebut Petitioner’s arguments. As Petitioner points out, Patent Owner does not provide a construction for “normalization,” despite claiming that the term is “defined” in the ’433 patent. Pet. Remand Resp. Br. 6; PO Remand Br. 13. Moreover, although Patent Owner purports to identify differences between the ’433 patent and Fong, the “normalization” applied is expressly recited in limitations [43.1.1], [43.1.2], and [43.2], and the subsequent actions taken on those normalized databases (i.e., comparing and recording) are recited in limitations [43.3]–[43.5]. That is, the “normalization” required by the claim is reflected in the claim language itself, and is broader than argued by Patent Owner. See In re Baxter Travenol Labs., 952 F.2d 388, 391 (Fed. Cir. 1991) (“It is not the function of this court to examine the claims in greater detail than argued by an appellant, looking for nonobvious distinctions over the prior art”). Patent Owner does not explain how these purported “differences” (e.g., that Fong may require the use of “database keys,” “identifiers,” “entities,” or determining ‘non-key attributes’ from key attributes) impacts the claim language, or Petitioner’s showing. See EWP Corp. v. Reliance Universal Inc., 755 F.2d 898, 907 (Fed. Cir. 1985) (A prior art reference “must be considered for everything it teaches by way of technology and is not limited to the particular invention it is describing and attempting to protect”). For the same reasons, as well as those set forth by Petitioner, we are also not persuaded by Patent Owner’s arguments that each DBMS requires a normalization process that is customized for it. Pet. Remand Resp. Br. 6–7. These arguments by Patent Owner also are not commensurate with the scope of the claim language, which does not recite a DBMS, and generally recites “normalizing” or “normalized” without regard to the DBMS. Id. Dr. Jansen provides an example of a database in unnormalized form that is converted into a normalized form, based on Fong’s four conditions, as applied to the claim language. See Reply 31–35; Ex. 1057 ¶¶ 226–261. Therefore, we are not persuaded by Patent Owner’s arguments that Petitioner has not explained how the example maps onto the limitations. PO Remand Resp. Br. 6–12. Patent Owner’s complaint that Dr. Jansen created the graphic in the example does not undermine Petitioner’s showing. E.g., Trial Practice Guide,14 I.G., (“Experts may testify about the teachings of the prior art and how they relate to the patentability of the challenged claims.”). We find Dr. Jansen’s testimony credible and persuasive in explaining why the combination of Conlon and Fong teaches the claim limitations. After considering the properly presented evidence and arguments of the complete record, we determine that Petitioner has shown, by a preponderance of the evidence, that the combination of Conlon, Miller, and Fong teaches the limitations in claim 43, that one of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to combine the teachings of Conlon, Miller, and Fong, and that claim 44 would have been obvious over Conlon, Miller, and Fong. 2. Analysis of Dependent Claims 44–46 Claims 44–46 depend, directly or indirectly, from claim 41. We, likewise, determine whether the combination renders obvious claims 44–46, taking into account the arguments made in Petitioner’s Reply Briefs and Dr. Jansen’s Supplemental Rebuttal Declarations. Petitioner contends that dependent claims 44–46, would have been obvious over Conlon, Miller, and Fong, and provides explanation as to how the prior art teaches each claim limitation. Pet. 84–86; Reply 35–39; Pet. Remand Br. 13–14. Patent Owner does not provide further briefing on dependent claims 44–46. 14 Available at https://www.uspto.gov/patents/ptab/trial-practice-guide#step2. Patent Owner did not specifically challenge Petitioner’s contentions as” slip op. at 31
- Strike new argumentNew argument disregardedDecided for petitioner
“Patent Owner’s arguments do not undermine Petitioner’s showing. Patent Owner did not specifically challenge Petitioner’s contentions as to the sufficiency of Conlon’s disclosure for claim 1410 in the Patent Owner Response. In the Sur-replies, Patent Owner argues that the claim requires that at least some relationships are created “automatically,” and “these automatic embodiments . . . are represented in this group of claims.” Sur-reply 9. Along these lines, in the additional briefing Patent Owner argues that Conlon does not teach “automatic,” but merely teaches “semi-automatic.” PO Remand Br. 9–10. The crux of Patent Owner’s argument, however, is that the Federal Circuit did not properly construe the limitation, and ignored certain disclosures in the ’433 (and ’680) patent. Id. at 10–11; see Pet. Remand Resp. Br. 1–4; PO Remand Resp. Br. 4–5. The Federal Circuit held that “the dictionary routine claims can be satisfied by mere use of a lexical database, and do not also require the automatic creation of additional definitions.” Appeal Dec. 10. Moreover, the statements from Conlon that Patent Owner relies upon relate to creating a database, not using the database. See id. As discussed above, on remand we are directed to apply the Federal Circuit’s construction. Patent Owner does not explain 10 As discussed in the original Final Written Decisions, Patent Owner raised several arguments that generally applied to all the claims, challenging, for example, the level of ordinary skill in the art, whether Conlon, Miller, and Beckwith were analogous art, and several general arguments relating to Conlon and the motivation to combine Conlon with a DBMS. See Final Dec. 14–23, 25–27. We were not persuaded by Patent Owner’s arguments; the Federal Circuit affirmed, determining that our findings were supported by substantial evidence. Appeal Dec. 14–16. why Petitioner’s contentions are not persuasive in light of the Federal Circuit’s construction of this limitation. In addition, Patent Owner argues in the Sur-replies that “[c]laims 14– 19 are not disclosed by the proffered prior art” and cites to paragraphs 78–83 of the Ranka Rebuttal Declarations. Sur-reply 10. As discussed in the original Final Written Decisions, Patent Owner’s reliance on six paragraphs of Dr. Ranka’s Rebuttal Declarations is an improper incorporation by reference, as Patent Owner did not discuss that testimony or further elaborate on these arguments in the Sur-replies. 37 C.F.R. § 42.6(a)(3); Cisco Systems, Inc. v. C-Cation Techs., LLC, IPR2014-00454, Paper 12 at 9–10 (PTAB Aug. 29, 2014) (informative); see, e.g., Final Dec. 37–39, 45, 48–50, 52. Therefore, we will not consider arguments that are not made in the Sur-replies, but are instead improperly incorporated by reference to the cited paragraphs in Dr. Ranka’s Rebuttal Declarations. Accordingly, after considering the evidence and arguments of the complete record, we determine that Petitioner has shown, by a preponderance of the evidence, that Conlon teaches limitation [14.3], and that claim 14 would have been obvious over Conlon.” slip op. at 21
Patent outcomesUS 6,665,680 unpatentableClaim construction§ 103 obviousnesscites KSR · GrahamPatents in suitUS 6,665,680 - Google LLC v. Mindbasehq, LLCAll claims unpatentablePTAB · Mar 16, 2026 · IPR2021-01251 · APJ Kara L Szpondowski · IPR · Remand
On remand, claims 14–19, 33–40, and 43–46 were held unpatentable as obvious over Conlon alone or Conlon, Miller, and Fong; the affirmed unpatentability of claims 1–13, 20–32, 41, and 42 remains.
RulingsRemand decision- Claim Construction › Intrinsic evidence (Phillips canons) › Plain and ordinary meaning to a POSITATerm construed petitioner constructionDecided for petitioner
“automatically classifying and storing” (as recited in limitation [14.3]), is correct. Appeal Dec. 8. That is, “the ‘dictionary routine’ claims can be practiced by [the] use of an already-created dictionary, and do not also require the automatic creation of a dictionary.” Id. at 10; see also Reply 7 (the limitation is “directed to the use of a dictionary function to automatically look up words and their syntax”); Appeal Dec. 8 (“nothing about the term . . . would inform a person of ordinary skill in the art that automatic ‘creation’ of a database, in addition to the ‘use’ of an already-created database, is a requirement of the dictionary routine claims”); id. (“the plain and ordinary meaning of the claim language is broad enough to include ‘use’”); id. (agreeing with Petitioner that “the specification describes the ‘dictionary routine’ as the act of looking up words already in the database”); id. at 9 (stating that “[i]t is notable, as well, that the specification nowhere describes automatically creating a dictionary; all instances of creating dictionary entries rely, at least in part, on manual data entry by users”). As directed by the Federal Circuit, we will apply this construction in our analysis.8 Id. 8 Patent Owner argues that the Federal Circuit “cherry-picks” and misinterprets the patents’ specifications, and “ignores the clearly contrary specification language.” PO Remand Br. 4–5, 10; id. at 8 (arguing that that the specification clearly set forth the definition of the claim term, and “the Board must accept term definitions . . . above all external definitions”). We do not consider these arguments on the construction of this limitation, because the Federal Circuit has directed us to proceed under its construction of the limitation. We also agree with Petitioner that the Federal Circuit’s claim construction is “foreclosed from further consideration” under its slip op. at 17
- Obviousness (§103) › Motivation to combine / reasonable expectation of successMotivation foundReasonable expectation foundUnpatentable
“combination of Conlon, Miller, and Fong. The Federal Circuit stated, “[i]n this context, ‘normalization’ generally refers to de-duplicating and simplifying database entries (for instance, combining entries for ‘car’ and ‘automobile’).” Appeal Dec. 4 (cited at Pet. Response Br. 5). This is consistent with the disclosure in the ’433 patent. E.g., Ex. 1001, 16:55– 17:24 (discussing, for example, “recogniz[ing] that the differently named data elements in different structures are actually the same data element . . . is referred to as normalizing the names of the same data elements,” “recogniz[ing] that the same named data elements in different structures are actually different data elements . . . is referred to as normalizing the names of the different data elements,” and “normalizing multiple single data elements”). This is also consistent with how Fong describes “normalization.” Ex. 1029, 76 (The “Function” of “Normaliz[ing] the collection of entities” is to “[r]emove redundancies and detect errors”); see also Ex. 1057 ¶ 226. Patent Owner’s arguments that Fong’s normalization is “different” from the normalization described in the ’433 patent does not persuasively rebut Petitioner’s arguments. As Petitioner points out, Patent Owner does not provide a construction for “normalization,” despite claiming that the term is “defined” in the ’433 patent. Pet. Remand Resp. Br. 6; PO Remand Br. 13. Moreover, although Patent Owner purports to identify differences between the ’433 patent and Fong, the “normalization” applied is expressly recited in limitations [43.1.1], [43.1.2], and [43.2], and the subsequent actions taken on those normalized databases (i.e., comparing and recording) are recited in limitations [43.3]–[43.5]. That is, the “normalization” required by the claim is reflected in the claim language itself, and is broader than argued by Patent Owner. See In re Baxter Travenol Labs., 952 F.2d 388, 391 (Fed. Cir. 1991) (“It is not the function of this court to examine the claims in greater detail than argued by an appellant, looking for nonobvious distinctions over the prior art”). Patent Owner does not explain how these purported “differences” (e.g., that Fong may require the use of “database keys,” “identifiers,” “entities,” or determining ‘non-key attributes’ from key attributes) impacts the claim language, or Petitioner’s showing. See EWP Corp. v. Reliance Universal Inc., 755 F.2d 898, 907 (Fed. Cir. 1985) (A prior art reference “must be considered for everything it teaches by way of technology and is not limited to the particular invention it is describing and attempting to protect”). For the same reasons, as well as those set forth by Petitioner, we are also not persuaded by Patent Owner’s arguments that each DBMS requires a normalization process that is customized for it. Pet. Remand Resp. Br. 6–7. These arguments by Patent Owner also are not commensurate with the scope of the claim language, which does not recite a DBMS, and generally recites “normalizing” or “normalized” without regard to the DBMS. Id. Dr. Jansen provides an example of a database in unnormalized form that is converted into a normalized form, based on Fong’s four conditions, as applied to the claim language. See Reply 31–35; Ex. 1057 ¶¶ 226–261. Therefore, we are not persuaded by Patent Owner’s arguments that Petitioner has not explained how the example maps onto the limitations. PO Remand Resp. Br. 6–12. Patent Owner’s complaint that Dr. Jansen created the graphic in the example does not undermine Petitioner’s showing. E.g., Trial Practice Guide,14 I.G., (“Experts may testify about the teachings of the prior art and how they relate to the patentability of the challenged claims.”). We find Dr. Jansen’s testimony credible and persuasive in explaining why the combination of Conlon and Fong teaches the claim limitations.” slip op. at 31
- Expert testimonyPetitioner expert creditedDecided for petitioner
“Dr. Jansen provides an example of a database in unnormalized form that is converted into a normalized form, based on Fong’s four conditions, as applied to the claim language. See Reply 31–35; Ex. 1057 ¶¶ 226–261. Therefore, we are not persuaded by Patent Owner’s arguments that Petitioner has not explained how the example maps onto the limitations. PO Remand Resp. Br. 6–12. Patent Owner’s complaint that Dr. Jansen created the graphic in the example does not undermine Petitioner’s showing. E.g., Trial Practice Guide,14 I.G., (“Experts may testify about the teachings of the prior art and how they relate to the patentability of the challenged claims.”). We find Dr. Jansen’s testimony credible and persuasive in explaining why the combination of Conlon and Fong teaches the claim limitations.” slip op. at 32
- Obviousness (§103) › Graham factors (scope of art, differences, level of skill)UnpatentableUnpatentable
“4. Summary of Ground 1 Having considered the Graham factors,11 including the level of ordinary skill in the art, the scope and content of the prior art, and the differences between the prior art and the challenged claims, we are persuaded, based on the current record, that Petitioner has shown, by a preponderance of the evidence, that claims 14–19 and 33–40 would have been obvious over Conlon.” slip op. at 24
Patent outcomesUS 6,510,433 unpatentableClaim construction§ 103 obviousnesscites KSR · GrahamPatents in suitUS 6,510,433 - Digital Global Systems, Inc. v. Deepsig, Inc.Some claims unpatentablePTAB · Mar 6, 2026 · IPR2024-01358 · APJ William V Saindon · IPR · Final written decision
Claims 1–3, 7–11, 15–19, 23, and 24 are unpatentable as obvious; claims 4–6, 12–14, and 20–22 were not shown unpatentable because the prior art did not teach the claimed received-signal feedback and transmitter-model update.
RulingsFinal written decision- Skill levelSkill level petitioner adoptedDecided for petitioner
“Petitioner asserts that: Persons of ordinary skill in the art (“POSITA”) would have a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering, computer engineering, or an equivalent degree and at least two years of experience working with of radio communication systems and machine learning. Additional work or research experience can substitute for less or different education, and vice-versa. Pet. 3–4 (citing Ex. 1003 ¶¶ 33–34). Patent Owner does not appear to challenge this level of skill. We use Petitioner’s definition for purposes of this Decision because it appears consistent with the level of skill reflected in the prior art and ’704 patent.” slip op. at 7
- Claim Construction › Intrinsic evidence (Phillips canons) › Plain and ordinary meaning to a POSITATerm construed board ownDecided for petitioner
“parameters “associated with the base station.” PO Resp. 31–32. In particular, Patent Owner argues that a transmitter “implemented in a base station” is not “associated with the base station.” Id. at 31. Petitioner argues that Patent Owner offers no reason to believe that a transmitter “implemented in a base station” is not “associated with the base station.” Pet. Reply 4–5; see also id. at 3–6 (entire argument). A plain reading of a “model associated with a base station” would encompass a model that operates in a base station. We do not see anything in the ’704 specification that would indicate “associated with” has any special meaning, or has a meaning contrary to our understanding of the plain meaning. We do not see the word “associated” outside the claims, whereas we see the word “implement” throughout the specification, generally in reference to an actual use of a model (consistent with our plain reading). See, e.g., Ex. 1001, 5:35–39, 6:3–17, 10:55–11:3 (discussing “implementations” where the model or some other feature of the system is used in a particular way). Accordingly, we construe a model “implemented in a base station” to be “associated with the base station.”” slip op. at 12
- Obviousness (§103) › Graham factors (scope of art, differences, level of skill)UnpatentableUnpatentable
“scenarios” (see PO Resp. 16–21), Patent Owner argues that “Jüschke does not disclose any association of the weight or bias parameters, . . . to any deployment scenario, and . . . base station” (id. at 19). For the reasons explained in our claim construction section above, we construe “deployment scenarios” to include “inline mode” models located within a base station, according to the list of deployment scenarios set out in the ’704 patent. See Ex. 1001, 2:38–65. The in-line deployment scenario depicted in Figure 6A of the ’704 patent bears a striking resemblance to the arrangement depicted in Figure 1 of Jüschke. In both figures, the analog radio signal is fed directly into the model and then the model directly outputs the signal to the amplifier. Compare Ex. 1001, Fig. 6A, with Ex. 1005, Fig. 1. As construed, the “deployment scenarios” represent the physical configurations of the device in which the model is found, such as “in-line.” Petitioner shows by a preponderance of the evidence that Jüschke’s similar in-line configuration is a “deployment scenario” as claimed because it teaches an inline model for a cellular system transmitter (i.e., base station). Pet. 26–29 (citing, e.g., Ex. 1005, Fig. 1, ¶¶ 6, 59; Ex. 1003 ¶¶ 146–147); see also Ex. 1001, 2:37–41 (stating that “[t]he particular deployment scenario[] may be . . . sending a radio transmission from a cellular base station that includes the . . . model . . . in an inline mode”).” slip op. at 26
- BurdenNot shown unpatentable
“Based on our claim construction analysis of claim 4, above, we agree with Patent Owner that claim 4 requires an actually transmitted signal and an update of the transmitter’s model. This claim construction eliminates Petitioner’s position regarding Holt teaching a modeled signal. See, e.g., Pet. Reply 17–23. We then turn to Petitioner’s argument that Holt teaches updating a model using an actually transmitted signal. See Pet. 59–60. There, Petitioner relies on a disclosure in Holt of an “actual communication channel 302 used to train the channel model 208.” Ex. 1006, 18:1–2. This is depicted in Figure 6 of Holt, in connection with a “fourth loss function” which is used to “train the decoder model.” Id. at 18:42–48; see generally id. at 17:58–18:51 (describing Figure 6). Whether training the channel model or the decoder model, Holt here does not disclose using the actual communication channel to train the encoder, i.e., transmitter. In sum, we find that Petitioner has not shown by a preponderance of the evidence that the prior art describes the claimed step of “obtaining a received radio signal,” and even if it did, Petitioner has not shown by a preponderance of the evidence that the prior art describes the claimed step of “updating the value of the model parameters” in the manner required by claim 4. Claims 12 and 20 are nearly identical to claim 4, and Petitioner’s ground fails for similar reasons. See Pet. 76. Claims 5, 6, 13, 14, 21 and 22 depend from claims 4, 12, and 20, and Petitioner’s ground fails for similar reasons as those claims. See id. at 77–80.” slip op. at 31
Patent outcomesUS 11,018,704 mixedClaim construction§ 103 obviousnessPatents in suitUS 11,018,704 - Qualcomm Incorporated v. Cobblestone Wireless, LLCSome claims unpatentablePTAB · Mar 5, 2026 · IPR2024-01336 · APJ Russell E Cass · IPR · Final written decision
Claims 1–4, 6–9, 24, and 25 are unpatentable; claims 10, 13, 14, 17, and 21–23 were not shown unpatentable, principally due to missing limitations or insufficient motivation to combine.
RulingsFinal written decision- Claim Construction › Intrinsic evidence (Phillips canons) › Plain and ordinary meaning to a POSITATerm construed petitioner constructionDecided for petitioner
“information” should be given its plain and ordinary meaning as “data,” and that Patent Owner’s narrower construction of “first information” and “second information” lacks sufficient support in the intrinsic record. We agree with Petitioner that the ’802 patent Specification defines “information” as data when it uses the phrase “information (i.e., data).” See Ex. 1001, 5:60–62 (“Information (i.e., data) to be transmitted may be received in a baseband digital system 250, such as a wireless digital baseband processor.” (emphasis added)), 11:30–32 (“In this example, the signals 911 and 912 carry the same information (data).” (emphasis added)). As the Federal Circuit has explained, a “specification’s use of ‘i.e.’ signals an intent to define the word to which it refers.” Edwards Lifesciences LLC v. Cook Inc., 582 F.3d 1322, 1334 (Fed. Cir. 2009). slip op. at 13
- Obviousness (§103) › Graham factors (scope of art, differences, level of skill)UnpatentableNot shown unpatentableMixed
“argument based on Fernandez alone, we find that Petitioner has not provided a sufficient evidentiary basis to support a motivation to remove the amplification from each of Fernandez’s signal generators 10A-10E and add a single power amplifier instead. See Pet. 76–77 Ex. 1003 ¶ 235. Petitioner’s only rationale for this modification to Fernandez is that “[a] single amplifier has several advantages compared to multiple amplifiers, including lower complexity, a single (vs. multiple) potential point of failure, and lower cost,” and that one of ordinary skill “would have found a single amplifier to be a simple matter of design preference.” Pet. 76–77. Dr. Almeroth simply repeats these cursory allegations without providing any further explanation or evidentiary support. Ex. 1003 ¶ 235. Moreover, Dr. Cooklev provides credible testimony that replacing Fernandez’s amplification in signal generators 10A–10E with a single amplifier would not necessarily have the advantages that Petitioner suggests. See Ex. 2013 ¶¶ 99, 104–105. For example, Dr. Cooklev testifies that a single amplifier would need to have a wider bandwidth than the multiple amplifiers used in Fernandez, which could cause potential stability issues. Id. ¶ 105. According to Dr. Cooklev, this wider bandwidth would require more circuit elements, and thus would not provide the reduction in space usage and power consumption that Petitioner asserts. Id. According to Dr. Cooklev, Montojo also points to several “substantial, and potentially impractical, drawbacks” of using a single amplifier for multiple signal generators, including power constraints imposed by spectral emission requirements and on-board battery capacity. Id. ¶ 104 (citing Ex. 1006 ¶¶ 7– 8). In light of this testimony, which we find credible, Petitioner has failed to provide sufficient explanation or evidence to support its assertion that one of ordinary skill would have found it obvious to replace the multiple amplifiers in Fernandez’s signal generators with a single amplifier.” slip op. at 65
- Obviousness (§103) › Motivation to combine / reasonable expectation of successMotivation not foundNot shown unpatentable
“argument based on Fernandez alone, we find that Petitioner has not provided a sufficient evidentiary basis to support a motivation to remove the amplification from each of Fernandez’s signal generators 10A-10E and add a single power amplifier instead. See Pet. 76–77 Ex. 1003 ¶ 235. Petitioner’s only rationale for this modification to Fernandez is that “[a] single amplifier has several advantages compared to multiple amplifiers, including lower complexity, a single (vs. multiple) potential point of failure, and lower cost,” and that one of ordinary skill “would have found a single amplifier to be a simple matter of design preference.” Pet. 76–77. Dr. Almeroth simply repeats these cursory allegations without providing any further explanation or evidentiary support. Ex. 1003 ¶ 235. Moreover, Dr. Cooklev provides credible testimony that replacing Fernandez’s amplification in signal generators 10A–10E with a single amplifier would not necessarily have the advantages that Petitioner suggests. See Ex. 2013 ¶¶ 99, 104–105. For example, Dr. Cooklev testifies that a single amplifier would need to have a wider bandwidth than the multiple amplifiers used in Fernandez, which could cause potential stability issues. Id. ¶ 105. According to Dr. Cooklev, this wider bandwidth would require more circuit elements, and thus would not provide the reduction in space usage and power consumption that Petitioner asserts. Id. According to Dr. Cooklev, Montojo also points to several “substantial, and potentially impractical, drawbacks” of using a single amplifier for multiple signal generators, including power constraints imposed by spectral emission requirements and on-board battery capacity. Id. ¶ 104 (citing Ex. 1006 ¶¶ 7– 8). In light of this testimony, which we find credible, Petitioner has failed to provide sufficient explanation or evidence to support its assertion that one of ordinary skill would have found it obvious to replace the multiple amplifiers in Fernandez’s signal generators with a single amplifier.” slip op. at 65
- Expert testimonyPatent owner expert creditedPetitioner expert discountedOther
“We find credible and agree with Dr. Cooklev’s testimony that the predistortion signals from tables 17-1 and 17-2 “are cancelled out by Suzuki’s amplifier” 28. Ex. 2013 ¶ 50. Dr. Cooklev supports his opinion by referring to paragraph 1 of Suzuki, which states that Suzuki’s invention is directed to “a multi-band lookup table type predistorter” (such as the one implemented using lookup tables 17-1 and 17-2 in Figure 6) that “compensates for a distortion of a power amplifier.” Ex. 2013 ¶ 54; Ex. 1004 ¶ 1. Dr. Cooklev’s opinion is also supported by paragraph 3 of Suzuki, which explains that a conventional digital predistorter uses a lookup table “for linearizing non-linear characteristics of an amplifier.” Ex. 1004 ¶ 3; Ex. 2013 ¶ 54. Dr. Cooklev further supports his opinion by relying on Suzuki’s disclosure in paragraph 46 that power amplifier 28 is “subject to distortion compensation” by the predistorter, and that distortion components in the signal output by the amplifier are canceled by “distortion compensation data [that] are read out from the lookup tables 17-1 and 17-2 and provided to the adders 13-1 and 13-2, respectively.” Ex. 1004 ¶ 46; Ex. 2013 ¶ 54. And, Dr. Cooklev’s opinion is supported by Suzuki’s disclosure in paragraph 47 that the distortion compensation added by adders 13-1 and 13-2 add the distortion compensation data from lookup tables 17-1 and 17-2 “to perform distortion compensation (addition of predistortion)” to “signals to be transmitted.” Ex. 1004 ¶ 47; Ex. 2013 ¶ 54. Petitioner agrees that the distortion compensation data from lookup tables 17-1 and 17-2 “are added to the respective frequency band from” input signal ST “in order to predistort the output signal, which is then transmitted,” and does not dispute that the distortion compensation data from lookup tables 17-1 and 17-2 is ultimately cancelled out by the distortion created by amplifier 28. Pet. Reply 8. In light of the above evidence, we agree with Patent Owner that Suzuki’s distortion components from lookup tables 17-1 and 17-2 in Figure 6 (which Petitioner relies on for the first and second digital signals in limitations 10a and 10b) are cancelled out by the distortion created by power amplifier 28 before the signal is ultimately transmitted. We agree with Petitioner that these first and second digital signals include data in the form of distortion compensation data. However, because these signals are cancelled by the distortion from amplifier 28 before transmission, the data from these signals is never transmitted. Thus, the first and second digital signals identified by Petitioner (the distortion compensation data from lookup tables 17-1 and 17-2) do not comprise data “to be transmitted,” as limitations 10a and 10b require.” slip op. at 35
Patent outcomesUS 7,924,802 mixedClaim construction§ 103 obviousnesscites Phillips · KSR · GrahamPatents in suitUS 7,924,802 - Cisco Systems, Inc. v. Lionra Technologies LimitedAll claims unpatentablePTAB · Mar 4, 2026 · IPR2024-01281 · APJ Steven M Amundson · IPR · Final written decision
Claims 1–3, 5–10, 12–15, and 17–21 are unpatentable as obvious over Cornett, Paatela, and Nelson; claim 8 is also unpatentable with Russell.
RulingsFinal written decision- Obviousness (§103) › Motivation to combine / reasonable expectation of successMotivation foundReasonable expectation foundUnpatentable
“been motivated to combine the teachings of Cornett, Paatela, Nelson, and Russell in the way Petitioner proposes and would have had a reasonable expectation of success. See supra §§ III.E.2(a)–(b). Hence, Petitioner has shown by a preponderance of the evidence that claim 8 is unpatentable under § 103(a) because the claim would have been obvious over Cornett, Paatela, Nelson, and Russell.” slip op. at 122
- Skill levelOther
“B. Level of Ordinary Skill in the Art Factors pertinent to determining the level of ordinary skill in the art” slip op. at 13
Patent outcomesUS 7,738,471 unpatentable§ 103 obviousnesscites Phillips · KSR · GrahamPatents in suitUS 7,738,471
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.