throbber
Kim, Michael
`
`From:
`Sent:
`To:
`Cc:
`Subject:
`
`Vignone, Maria on behalf of Trials
`Thursday, July 02, 2015 1:23 PM
`Rosato, Michael; Trials
`Brewer, Robin; Michael Aschenbrener; Sean Goodwin
`RE: CBM2014-00159
`
`Passcode 4566317
`
`Counsel:  A conference call has been scheduled for 3:00 PM ET today.  The dial‐in information is below: 

`877-921-2059

`Thank you, 

`Maria Vignone 
`Paralegal Operations Manager 
`Patent Trial and Appeal Board 
`571‐272‐4645 
`
`  
`
`From: Rosato, Michael [mailto:mrosato@wsgr.com]
`Sent: Thursday, July 02, 2015 12:21 PM
`To: Trials
`Cc: Brewer, Robin; Michael Aschenbrener; Sean Goodwin
`Subject: CBM2014-00159

`Dear Trials, 

`It has been brought to Petitioner’s attention that the Patent Owner (Think Computer/Aaron Greenspan) is improperly 
`contacting our technical expert, Dr. Sadeh, in an apparent attempt to intimidate Dr. Sadeh into withdrawing his 
`declaration testimony in the above cited case (see email below).  As such, Petitioner requests a conference call with the 
`Board today to discuss 1) the immediate discontinuation of this behavior by the Patent Owner; and 2) what appropriate 
`sanctions are in order. 

`Counsel for Petitioner is available today at the following times: 
` 12:30‐1:30pm Eastern 
` 3pm‐5pm Eastern 
`

`Sincerely, 

`Michael T Rosato  (Counsel for Petitioner/Square)      
`Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati   
`[o] 206.883.2529 | [f] 206.883.2699 
`mrosato@wsgr.com 
`
`   
`
`From: Aaron Greenspan <aarong@thinkcomputer.com> 
`Date: Wednesday, July 1, 2015 at 11:29 PM 
`To: Norman Sadeh <sadeh@cs.cmu.edu> 
`
`1
`
`

`
`Cc: Michael Aschenbrener <mja@aschenbrenerlaw.com> 
`Subject: Expert Witness Testimony Liability 

`Dr. Sadeh, 
`
` I
`
` am the inventor of U.S. Patent No. 8,396,808 (the "'808 Patent"), about which you recently testified in two related USPTO 
`CBM proceedings on behalf of Square, Inc. and/or its law firm, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati (WSGR). I am also the 
`President & CEO of Think Computer Corporation ("Think"), the company to which the '808 Patent is assigned; Think is the 
`plaintiff in Think Computer Corporation v. Square, Inc., Case No. 5:14‐cv‐01374‐PSG. For one of the related CBM proceedings, 
`your deposition was taken on March 26, 2015. The transcript of that deposition (Exhibit 2019) and the associated errata 
`document (Exhibit 2020) are both attached to this message. 

`In your deposition testimony, you admitted that you wrote only "ten percent" of "your" July 17, 2014 declaration—upon 
`which Square’s entire petition is based, and which was instrumental in convincing the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) to 
`institute proceedings against Think. Notably, your written testimony contains 111 pages of content excluding the cover page. 
`You also stated, "Counsel attached most of the text, and so I think the majority of the text." When pressed further under oath, 
`you were only able to identify a few scattered paragraphs, not even ten percent, that you actually could remember having 
`written. In other words, the declaration was almost entirely ghostwritten by WSGR attorneys, and you signed your name to it, 
`all while collecting $625.00 per hour for your supposed expertise. The term "supposed" is deliberately used here because you 
`also could not properly define the basic term "ACH," despite claiming to be an expert on mobile payments. Nor could you 
`substantiate the written legal conclusions in your declaration concerning the '808 Patent. 

`The above situation poses a problem for me personally as an inventor, and for Think as a patent owner, but most of all, as I 
`will explain below, it poses several problems for you. On a personal level, I find your behavior detestable and highly unethical. 
`I have provided both written and deposition testimony of my own in the same case and in others previously—testimony that 
`was always original and honest, unlike yours. I expect that Carnegie Mellon University and Dean Andrew W. Moore in 
`particular would join me in finding your behavior to be ethically problematic, if not economically rewarding. 

`Regardless of my opinion or the opinions of your academic colleagues, your ethical breach has already caused considerable 
`harm to Think, and it is my belief that you violated the Federal Rules of Evidence as well as state and possibly federal law. At 
`minimum, you are in violation of California Business and Professions Code § 17200, and there is also a serious question as to 
`whether you committed perjury by signing your name—twice—to a document you did not actually write and that does not 
`actually convey your original opinion, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1001. The Square and/or WSGR attorneys who assisted you 
`with the aforementioned violations of law also likely committed legal malpractice themselves. 

`Judiical precedent also supports the view that your actions are sanctionable. "In most cases, expert witnesses are not 
`attorneys, and they may not apprehend the required components of a report set forth in Rule 26(a)(2)(B). The retaining 
`attorney certainly may explain the rule’s requirements and coach the expert to be sure the report touches all the bases. That 
`is a far cry, however, from abject ghostwriting, which is not allowed under any circumstances." Numatics, Inc. v. Balluff, Inc. 
`and H.H. Barnum Company, Case No. 13‐11049 (E.D. Michigan December 16, 2014). "'[T]he sanction is mandatory unless there 
`is a reasonable explanation of why Rule 26 was not complied with or the mistake was harmless.' Bessemer & Lake Erie R.R. Co. 
`v. Seaway Marine Transport, 596 F.3d 357, 370 (6th Cir. 2010) (quoting Vance ex rel Hammons v. United States, 182 F.3d 920 
`(6th Cir. 1999))." Id. The cited order from the Numatics case is one of dozens of court orders that makes essentially the same 
`point: you cannot sign your name to a fabricated opinion written by attorneys. 

`Accordingly, you have 48 hours to notify that PTAB that you completely withdraw "your" written testimony from USPTO PTAB 
`proceedings CBM2014‐00159 and CBM2015‐00067. If you fail to do so, Think will not hesitate to commence legal action 
`against you personally, Carnegie Mellon University, WSGR, and Square, Inc. at a date of its choosing to the maximum extent 
`permitted by law. In addition, should you fail to do so, this message will be forwarded to Dean Moore and every computer 
`science department head at Carnegie Mellon. Perhaps if you agree to refund your expert witness fees, Square will be kind 
`enough not to pursue legal action against you of its own. 

`Aaron 

`
`2
`
`

`
`
`
`Aaron Greenspan
`President & CEO
`Think Computer Corporation
`
`telephone +1 415 670 9350
`fax +1 415 373 3959
`e-mail aarong@thinkcomputer.com
`web http://www.thinkcomputer.com
`
`  
`
`This email and any attachments thereto may contain private, confidential, and privileged material for the sole
`use of the intended recipient. Any review, copying, or distribution of this email (or any attachments thereto) by
`others is strictly prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender immediately and
`permanently delete the original and any copies of this email and any attachments thereto.
`
`3

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