IN THE UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
`
`
`
`In re Covered Business Method
`
`Review of:
`U.S. Patent No. 8,041,805
`
`Issued: Oct. 18, 2011
`
`Application No.: 11/458,625
`
`Filing Date: Jul. 19, 2006
`
`
`For: System and Method for Reporting to a Website Owner User Reactions
`to Particular Web Pages of a Website
`
`))
`
`
`)
`)
`)
`)
`
`
`FILED VIA PRPS
`
`
`DECLARATION OF JOHN CHISHOLM IN SUPPORT OF
`PETITION FOR COVERED BUSINESS METHOD REVIEW
`OF U.S. PATENT NO. 8,041,805
`
`
`
`
`
`
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`Qualtrics, LLC
`Exhibit 1001
`CBM of U.S. Patent No. 8,041,805
`Page 001
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`
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`
`
`In re Covered Business Method
`
`Review of:
`U.S. Patent No. 8,041,805
`
`Issued: Oct. 18, 2011
`
`Application No.: 11/458,625
`
`Filing Date: Jul. 19, 2006
`
`
`For: System and Method for Reporting to a Website Owner User Reactions
`to Particular Web Pages of a Website
`
`))
`
`
`)
`)
`)
`)
`
`
`FILED VIA PRPS
`
`
`DECLARATION OF JOHN CHISHOLM IN SUPPORT OF
`PETITION FOR COVERED BUSINESS METHOD REVIEW
`OF U.S. PATENT NO. 8,041,805
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`Qualtrics, LLC
`Exhibit 1001
`CBM of U.S. Patent No. 8,041,805
`Page 001
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`
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`
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`Declaration in Support of Petition for
`Covered Business Method Review of USPN 8,041,805
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`
`
`I.
`II.
`A.
`B.
`
`TABLE OF CONTENTS
`
`BACKGROUND AND QUALIFICATIONS ................................................. 2
`OVERVIEW OF THE ’805 PATENT ............................................................ 7
`The Patent Describes a User Reaction Measurement Tool ................... 7
`The User Feedback Tool Is Used for Improving the Effectiveness of
`Website Marketing and Customer Communications and Services, And
`Can Be Applied to Commercial Transactions. ...................................... 8
`III. ORDINARY SKILL IN THE ART ............................................................... 14
`A.
`Background of a Person of Ordinary Skill .......................................... 14
`B.
`Person of Ordinary Skill in the Art ..................................................... 33
`IV. CLAIM CONSTRUCTIONS ........................................................................ 34
`A.
`Legal Standard ..................................................................................... 35
`B.
`“user-selectable element” and “element” ............................................ 36
`C.
`“solicit” ................................................................................................ 39
`D.
`“page-specific user feedback concerning the particular web page” ... 41
`E.
`“as a whole” ......................................................................................... 43
`V.
`THE ’805 PATENT IS A COVERED BUSINESS METHOD PATENT .... 45
`A.
`Legal Standard ..................................................................................... 45
`B.
`The ’805 Patent Is Directed to a Financial Product or Service ........... 46
`C.
`The ’805 Patent Is Not Directed to a Technological Invention .......... 52
`VI. CONCLUSION .............................................................................................. 58
`
`i
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`Qualtrics, LLC
`Exhibit 1001
`CBM of U.S. Patent No. 8,041,805
`Page 002
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`I, John Chisholm, declare as follows:
`
`
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`Declaration in Support of Petition for
`Covered Business Method Review of USPN 8,041,805
`
`1.
`
`I have been retained on behalf of Qualtrics, LLC (“Qualtrics” or
`
`“Petitioner”) to provide expert testimony in support of its Petition for Covered
`
`Business Method (“CBM”) Review of U.S. Patent No. 8,041,805 (“Petition”).
`
`2.
`
`I understand that this proceeding involves U.S. Patent No. 8,041,805
`
`(“’805 Patent”), titled “System and Method for Reporting to a Website Owner User
`
`Reactions to Particular Web Pages of a Website.” The ’805 Patent is provided as
`
`Ex. 1002. I further understand that the ’805 Patent issued from U.S. Patent App.
`
`No. 11/458,625 filed on July 19, 2006 ( “Filing Date”), and that the ‘805 Patent is
`
`a continuation of U.S. Patent No. 7,085,820, which is a continuation-in-part of
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`U.S. Patent No. 6,421,724 (“the ’724 Patent”), which was filed on August 30, 1999
`
`(“Earliest Filing Date”).
`
`3.
`
`I also understand that according to USPTO records, the ’805 Patent is
`
`currently assigned to OpinionLab, Inc. (“OpinionLab”).
`
`4.
`
`I understand that Petitioner challenges the validity of all claims 1–33
`
`of the ’805 Patent (“Challenged Claims”). The Challenged Claims include four
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`independent claims: claims 1, 10, 18, and 26; and twenty-nine dependent claims 2–
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`9, 11–17, 19–25, and 27–33.
`
`5.
`
`I have reviewed and am familiar with the ’805 Patent as well as its file
`
`history. The ’805 file history is provided as Ex. 1003.
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`1
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`Qualtrics, LLC
`Exhibit 1001
`CBM of U.S. Patent No. 8,041,805
`Page 003
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`Declaration in Support of Petition for
`Covered Business Method Review of USPN 8,041,805
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`6.
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`As set forth below, I am familiar with the technology at issue as of the
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`Earliest Filing Date.
`
`7.
`
`I have been asked to provide my technical review, analysis, insights,
`
`and opinions regarding the grounds of CBM-eligibility and invalidity set forth in
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`the Petition. In forming my opinions, I have relied on my own experience and
`
`knowledge, as well as my review of the ’805 Patent and its file history.
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`8.
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`I have also relied on additional facts and data of the type that experts
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`in the field of invention would reasonably rely upon in forming an opinion on the
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`subject. In particular, I have relied on such information in order to support and
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`explain my opinion as to how a person of ordinary skill in the art would have
`
`interpreted the disclosure of ’805 Patent and the background references discussed
`
`in this petition. Where relevant, I cite to such references in this declaration.
`
`I.
`
`BACKGROUND AND QUALIFICATIONS
`
`9.
`
`From 1971 to 1976, I attended the Massachusetts Institute of
`
`Technology (MIT), where I received a Bachelor of Science (B.S.) degree and a
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`Master of Science (M.S.) degree in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.
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`Between 1973 and 1976, I alternated semesters between MIT, where I served as a
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`teaching assistant in Applied Probabilistic Systems, and General Electric, where I
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`worked as a FORTRAN programmer and data analyst.
`
`10. From 1976 to 1978, I attended Harvard Business School (HBS),
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`2
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`Qualtrics, LLC
`Exhibit 1001
`CBM of U.S. Patent No. 8,041,805
`Page 004
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`where I received a Master of Business Administration (M.B.A.) degree.
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`
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`Declaration in Support of Petition for
`Covered Business Method Review of USPN 8,041,805
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`11. From 1978 to 1992, I held a variety of marketing, consulting and
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`management positions with Hewlett Packard (HP), Pyramid Technology,
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`NetFrame, Ventura Publisher, and Xerox. Over those 14 years, my responsibilities
`
`and titles advanced from product marketing engineer, to product manager, to senior
`
`marketing consultant, to director of product marketing, to vice president of
`
`marketing. My responsibilities in these roles included product management, market
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`research and analysis, and customer relations.
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`12. For most of 1989 to 1993, I ran John Chisholm Group (JCG), a
`
`consulting firm specializing in strategic marketing. JCG clients included IBM, HP,
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`Microsoft, Sun Microsystems, 3Com, Kodak, Symantec/Peter Norton, Quantum,
`
`and Data General. From 1990–95, I wrote a monthly column for Unix Today (later
`
`Open Systems Today) called “Industry Watch”, and a column for Unix Review
`
`called “Currents,” which covered computer and software industry trends.
`
`13.
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`In 1992 to 1993, I founded Decisive Technology Corporation
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`(“Decisive”), a provider of automated surveys via email and later the Web. I served
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`as chairman and CEO of Decisive until 1996, when I became Vice President of
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`Business Development. In 1995, the company introduced Decisive Survey 1.0,
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`Windows-based software for designing, deploying and analyzing the results of
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`email surveys. In 1996, we introduced Decisive Survey 2.0 for Web surveys. In
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`3
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`Qualtrics, LLC
`Exhibit 1001
`CBM of U.S. Patent No. 8,041,805
`Page 005
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`Declaration in Support of Petition for
`Covered Business Method Review of USPN 8,041,805
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`1999, Decisive was acquired by Messagemedia. MessageMedia was later acquired
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`by DoubleClick, which in turn was acquired by Google. I discuss Decisive in
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`further detail below.
`
`14.
`
`In 1997, I founded CustomerSat, an online survey research company
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`specializing in Web-based customer satisfaction measurement, which later became
`
`a leader in enterprise feedback management (EFM). From 1997 to March 2008, I
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`served as CEO/Chairman of CustomerSat. In March 2008, we sold CustomerSat to
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`MarketTools, a leading provider of online market research services and software,
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`at which time I became MarketTools Executive Vice President and General
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`Manager. I left MarketTools in March 2009. CustomerSat was later acquired by
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`Confirmit in 2012. Confirmit still actively markets the CustomerSat solution as
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`“Confirmit CustomerSat.”1
`
`15. From 1997 to 2004, I authored or co-authored four articles for Quirk’s
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`Marketing Research Review, a leading industry periodical. Two of these articles
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`(1997 and 1999) were cited by “Use of E-Mail and Internet Surveys by Research
`
`
`
` 1
`
` See http://www.confirmit.com/what-we-do/product/confirmit-customersat.aspx.
`
`4
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`Qualtrics, LLC
`Exhibit 1001
`CBM of U.S. Patent No. 8,041,805
`Page 006
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`Declaration in Support of Petition for
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`Covered Business Method Review of USPN 8,041,805
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`Companies,” Journal of Online Research, 2002.2 During this time I also served on
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`
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`the Market Research Council of the Association for Interactive Media (AIM), on
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`the visiting committee of the MIT math department, as Vice President of the MIT
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`Worldwide Alumni Association, and as chairman of the Stanford Institute for the
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`Quantitative Study of Society, then one of Stanford’s twelve independent
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`laboratories.
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`16.
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`I am a named inventor on two United States patents, both of which
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`relate to online survey technology: U.S. Patent No. 5,400,248, which relates to
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`Internet-based conditional voting technology (filed 1992, issued 1995); and U.S.
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`Patent No. 6,892,347, which relates to techniques for monitoring user activities at a
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`website and initiating an action (e.g., a survey) when the user exits from the web
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`site (filed 2000, issued 2005). We did not file for many patents, in part, because
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`customer feedback, market research, and other surveys long pre-existed the
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`Internet, and we well understood that many of the techniques and processes we
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`were applying to the Internet were well established in conventional media (paper
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`questionnaires and phone surveys).
`
`
`
` 2
`
` See
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`http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download;jsessionid=D1E15CFDEF5A0A881
`
`485F377B95D0767?doi=10.1.1.197.4823&rep=rep1&type=pdf.
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`5
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`Qualtrics, LLC
`Exhibit 1001
`CBM of U.S. Patent No. 8,041,805
`Page 007
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`Declaration in Support of Petition for
`Covered Business Method Review of USPN 8,041,805
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`17.
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`In total, I have had over 16 years (1993–2009) of full-time (and
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`additional years of part-time) experience working in the field of online survey
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`technology. In particular, I have extensive experience in technology relating to the
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`collection, measurement, and reporting of feedback from users visiting a web page.
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`18. Since April 2009, I have served as CEO of John Chisholm Ventures
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`(www.johnchisholmventures.com), an executive consulting and venture investment
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`firm specializing in technology startups. I have been a regular contributor to
`
`Forbes on entrepreneurship and innovation and have blogged about customer
`
`satisfaction measurement.3 I am currently president of the MIT Worldwide Alumni
`
`Association, a member of the MIT Corporation (board of trustees), and trustee of
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`the Santa Fe Institute, which specializes in research in complex physical,
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`biological, and social systems. I have served on the advisory boards of the Network
`
`for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE) and the Gruter Institute for Law &
`
`Behavioral Research. I am a member of the Global Partners Council of the Institute
`
`for New Economic Thinking (INET), and advise entrepreneurs through the MIT
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`Venture Mentoring Service, the Thiel Foundation 20under20 Fellowship, and the
`
`Plug and Play Tech Center. Apart from companies I have founded or invested in, I
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`
`
` 3
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` See, e.g., http://www.johnchisholmventures.com/10-lessons-in-customer-
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`satisfaction-loyalty-and-feedback/.
`
`6
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`Qualtrics, LLC
`Exhibit 1001
`CBM of U.S. Patent No. 8,041,805
`Page 008
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`have twice served as expert in litigation to value privately-held companies.
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`Declaration in Support of Petition for
`Covered Business Method Review of USPN 8,041,805
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`19. My Curriculum Vitae is provided as Ex. 1004.
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`20. My work in this matter is being billed at a rate of $600 per hour, with
`
`reimbursement for necessary and reasonable expenses. My compensation is not in
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`any way contingent upon the outcome of this covered business method review. I
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`have no interest in the outcome of this proceeding or any related litigation.
`
`II. OVERVIEW OF THE ’805 PATENT
`
`A. The Patent Describes a User Reaction Measurement Tool
`
`21. The ’805 Patent describes the field of the invention as relating to
`
`“communications and more particularly to a system and method for reporting to a
`
`website owner user reactions to particular web pages of a website.” ’805 Patent at
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`1:16–19. The ’805 Patent describes a system “for measuring page-specific user
`
`feedback concerning each of a plurality of particular web pages.” Id. at Abstract.
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`The ’805 Patent acknowledges the common use of commercial websites (id. at
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`1:23–34) and the pre-existing availability web-based feedback tools (id. at 1:35–
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`56), and is directed to the solicitation of customer feedback in the form of one or
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`more ratings and open-ended comments from users of a web page.
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`22. The ‘805 Patent describes the claimed user reaction measurement tool
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`as follows:
`
`a. A user-selectable “element” appears on a web page, such as the
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`7
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`Qualtrics, LLC
`Exhibit 1001
`CBM of U.S. Patent No. 8,041,805
`Page 009
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`Declaration in Support of Petition for
`Covered Business Method Review of USPN 8,041,805
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`exemplary icon disclosed in the specification: “
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`.” Id. at 11:59–
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`12:6 & Fig. 2. “[A]ny suitable stationary or animated icon 50 may
`
`be used[.]” Id. at 12:14–15.
`
`b. This “element” may be selected by a website user (using a mouse
`
`pointer), after which software associated with the element presents
`
`a second “element” (e.g., “pop-up” window), through which the
`
`user can enter feedback in the form of one or more ratings and/or
`
`open-ended comments, e.g.:
`
`
`
`
`Id. at 12:40–
`13:48 & Fig. 3
`
`Id. at 13:60–
`14:3 & Fig. 4
`
`
`
`Id. at 14:11–
`15:27 & Fig. 5
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`Id. at 15:51–59 & Fig. 6
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`
`
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`c. The user’s selection(s) are then stored for reporting purposes.
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`Id. at 15:28–31.
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`User reactions can be obtained concerning various aspects of a web page. The web
`
`site owner may then use the user selection data to identify specific aspects of a web
`
`page to be improved.
`
`B.
`
`The User Feedback Tool Is Used for Improving the Effectiveness
`of Website Marketing and Customer Communications and
`Services, And Can Be Applied to Commercial Transactions.
`
`8
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`Qualtrics, LLC
`Exhibit 1001
`CBM of U.S. Patent No. 8,041,805
`Page 010
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`Declaration in Support of Petition for
`Covered Business Method Review of USPN 8,041,805
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`23. As the ’805 specification explains, “Many website owners desire
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`information concerning usage of their websites.” ’805 Patent at 1:23–24. For
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`example: “an Internet website owner might use a third party service to track the
`
`number of users that visit its website, the number of “clicks” these users
`
`collectively perform (using their mouse pointers) while visiting the website, and
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`how long these users stay at the website.” Id. at 1:24–28.
`
`24. The ’805 specification recognizes that the website owner can use this
`
`feedback to measure the effectiveness of the website. For example: “Using this
`
`objective information, the website owner may determine that its website is not
`
`attracting a sufficient number of users or has been ineffective at keeping the
`
`interest of users once they arrive.” Id. at 1:29–32. The specification also recognizes
`
`that the website owner can use this feedback to improve the effectiveness of its
`
`website and business. As the specification explains: “The website owner may react
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`accordingly to improve its websites and, possibly, the success of its associated
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`business operations.” Id. at 1:32–33. 4
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`25. Specifically, user reactions can be obtained concerning various
`
`aspects of a web page, such as content, design and usability of the web page. Id. at
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`6:9–12; 14:21–25. The ’805 Patent compiles this information into reports for the
`
`
`
` 4
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` Emphasis is added throughout this declaration unless otherwise indicated.
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`9
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`Qualtrics, LLC
`Exhibit 1001
`CBM of U.S. Patent No. 8,041,805
`Page 011
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`Declaration in Support of Petition for
`Covered Business Method Review of USPN 8,041,805
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`website owner. According to the ’805 Patent, the reports may include an overall
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`rating to allow the website owner to gauge the effectiveness of the website.
`
`Describing an embodiment, the specification explains: “An overall rating assigned
`
`to website 26 in the manner described above, according to subjective ratings for
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`pages 28 of the website 26, may provide owner 12 with more meaningful
`
`information about the effectiveness of website 26 than collecting subjective
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`ratings that each concern only website 26 as a whole.” Id. at 19:49–54.
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`26. The ’805 Patent also recognizes that the ’805 claims and alleged
`
`invention may be applied to the applications of business-to-consumer commercial
`
`transactions and business-to-consumer commercial transactions, as well as market
`
`research and usability testing. As the specification states:
`
`Although embodiments of the present invention are described primarily in
`connection with the measurement and reporting of subjective user reactions
`to one or more particular pages of one or more websites, the present
`invention may be similarly applied in connection with polling, surveying,
`product development research, market research, usability testing, business-
`to-consumer (B2C) commercial transactions, business-to-business (B2B)
`commercial transactions, or any other suitable activity for which the
`measurement and reporting of user responses may be desirable. Those
`skilled in the art will readily appreciate the application of the present
`invention to such activities based on these figures, descriptions, and claims.
`Id. at 4:5–17.
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`10
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`Qualtrics, LLC
`Exhibit 1001
`CBM of U.S. Patent No. 8,041,805
`Page 012
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`Declaration in Support of Petition for
`Covered Business Method Review of USPN 8,041,805
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`27. The ’805 specification also describes collecting user demographics to
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`better measure user reaction. As the specification explains, “user reaction
`
`measurement tool . . . collect[s] appropriate demographic or any other suitable
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`information associated with user[.]” Id. 6:28–31. “Using such demographic
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`information, the reactions of user 16 to pages 28 may be categorized and analyzed
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`to obtain further information that may be valuable to owner 12 or to others.” Id. at
`
`6:31–34. Further, dependent claims 7, 16, 24, and 32 of the ’805 Patent recite that
`
`the software receives “demographic information from the user.” The collection and
`
`reporting of demographic information allows the web site owner to associate user
`
`demographic information with a user’s feedback data and thus tailor a web site to
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`target a specific market segment based on demographic information.
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`28. Related to this purpose, the patent describes a user registration system
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`for collecting user demographics. “Fig. 7. illustrates an exemplary registration page
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`80 that may be sent to user 16 in response to user 16 providing a general or specific
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`reaction to at least one page 28 of a website 26.” Id. at 15:60–63.
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`11
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`Qualtrics, LLC
`Exhibit 1001
`CBM of U.S. Patent No. 8,041,805
`Page 013
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`Declaration in Support of Petition for
`Covered Business Method Review of USPN 8,041,805
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`In addition to basic information such as name, the demographic information may
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`include various types of marketing information, including: “(5) a gender; (6) an
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`age or age range; (7) a job title, position, profession, industry, or other
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`employment information; (8) an employment status (for example, full-time, part-
`
`time, student, or retired); (9) number of persons in household; (10) a housing
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`status (for example, homeowner or renter); (11) a highest level of education; (12)
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`personal or household income or income range; [and] (13) information concerning
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`one or more activities of user 16, such as computer usage patterns and
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`preferences.” Id. at 16:6–14.
`
`29. This demographic information allows the web site to improve the
`
`website for particular users. As the specification explains: “Owner 12 may
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`subsequently modify one or more pages 28 of website 26 according to the
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`12
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`Qualtrics, LLC
`Exhibit 1001
`CBM of U.S. Patent No. 8,041,805
`Page 014
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`Declaration in Support of Petition for
`Covered Business Method Review of USPN 8,041,805
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`subjective ratings or other user reactions received from users 16 (and possibly their
`
`demographic profiles), as reflected in the reports, to improve the pages 28 or better
`
`tailor the pages 28 for particular categories of users 16.” Id. at 9:14–19.
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`30. The ’805 claims are all directed to the user reaction measurement tool
`
`discussed in the specification. Independent claim 1 recites software to “receive the
`
`page-specific user feedback concerning the particular web page for reporting to an
`
`interested party “ where “the page-specific user feedback comprising one or more
`
`page-specific subjective ratings of the particular web page and one or more
`
`associated page-specific open-ended comments concerning the particular web
`
`site.” Independent claims, 10, 18, and 26, are similar to claim 1. Dependent claims
`
`2, 11, 19, and 27 recite that the software is “incorporated into software of each of
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`the plurality of particular web pages.” Dependent claims 3, 12, 20, and 28 recite
`
`that the software “comprises a call to a directory containing a script.” Dependent
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`claims 4, 13, 21, and 29 recite that the software is “incorporated into a web
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`browser of the user.” Dependent claims 5, 14, 22, and 30 recite that each subjective
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`page subjective rating is about “the web page as a whole” or “at least one
`
`characteristic” of the web page as whole. Dependent claims 6, 15, 23, and 31 recite
`
`that the page-specific user feedback comprises “a user response to an explicit
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`question presented to the user.” Dependent claims 7, 16, 24, and 32 recite that the
`
`software receives “demographic information from the user.” Dependent claims 8,
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`13
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`Qualtrics, LLC
`Exhibit 1001
`CBM of U.S. Patent No. 8,041,805
`Page 015
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`17, 25, and 33 recite that “the plurality of particular web pages comprises
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`Declaration in Support of Petition for
`Covered Business Method Review of USPN 8,041,805
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`substantially all web pages of the website.” Dependent claim 9 recites one or more
`
`computer systems as the host, associated with the interested party, and the user.
`
`III. ORDINARY SKILL IN THE ART
`
`
`A. Background of a Person of Ordinary Skill
`31.
`I describe below the state of the relevant technology and the
`
`corresponding knowledge and experience of a person of ordinary skill in the art at
`
`the time of the purported invention.
`
`1.
`Technology For Soliciting Feedback
`32. Technology for automating survey data collection and processing
`
`dates back to the 1890 US census. The Herman Hollerith tabulator consisted of
`
`electrically operated components that captured and processed census data by
`
`reading holes on paper punch cards. It could sort the data by demographic and
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`other respondent sub-groups or segments (e.g., age category, race, gender, etc.)
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`(https://www.census.gov/history/www/innovations/technology/the_hollerith_tabul
`
`ator.html).
`
`33. Public Opinion Quarterly characterizes the period of 1930–1960 as
`
`one of invention in survey research – including advances in survey design,
`
`statistical and sampling techniques
`
`(http://homepages.wmich.edu/~lewisj/332/PDF/History.pdf). The period 1960–
`
`14
`
`Qualtrics, LLC
`Exhibit 1001
`CBM of U.S. Patent No. 8,041,805
`Page 016
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`Declaration in Support of Petition for
`Covered Business Method Review of USPN 8,041,805
`
`
`1990 was one of vast growth in the use of surveys, accompanying the growth of
`
`quantitative social sciences, use of quantitative information to study consumer
`
`behaviors, and of the US federal government. Since 1990, growth has continued,
`
`driven by continuously produced data from the Internet and more broadly, digital
`
`systems in all sectors.
`
`34. By the early 1990’s, when I started Decisive Technology, the notions
`
`of relationship and event-specific surveys were well understood and widely used.
`
`Relationship surveys typically covered all aspects of a customer’s or user’s
`
`experience with a product, brand, or company over a period of time, typically one
`
`year. In contrast, an event-specific (or “transaction-“ or “object-” specific) survey
`
`gathered feedback on a specific event, transaction, or object experienced at a point
`
`in time, such as a meal in a restaurant, or a visit to a hospital or automobile
`
`showroom.
`
`35. To ensure that the feedback provided indeed applied to the event,
`
`transaction, or object in question, such surveys provide detailed instructions to the
`
`user. If the survey uses postal mail, it is ideally delivered to the respondent
`
`promptly after the event, transaction, or experience of the object while it is still
`
`fresh in the customer’s or user’s mind. For example:
`
`“You visited the Honda showroom at 123 Main Street, Anywhere, USA on July
`
`15, 19xx. During that visit:” [followed by survey questions specific to that event].
`
`15
`
`Qualtrics, LLC
`Exhibit 1001
`CBM of U.S. Patent No. 8,041,805
`Page 017
`
`
`
`
`
`
`“Please provide us feedback on your stay at Memorial Hospital from [date] to
`
`
`
`Declaration in Support of Petition for
`Covered Business Method Review of USPN 8,041,805
`
`[date].”
`
`36. The instructions need to be detailed and prominently placed so
`
`customers or users would not provide feedback about, say, their overall
`
`impressions of or experiences with the brand or company, or their experiences on
`
`or with a different event, transaction, or object.
`
`37.
`
`If the survey is conducted in-person such as in a restaurant or mall, it
`
`is again ideally conducted promptly after the event, transaction, or object has been
`
`experienced, using detailed and conspicuous instructions to the customer or user:
`
`“For the meal that you just experienced at Wendy’s, would you please give us
`
`some feedback?”
`
`38. The ’805 Patent takes this long-practiced concept of the event-specific
`
`survey and applies it in the context of a web site.
`
`39. For example, by 1996–97, the solicitation of feedback from website
`
`visitors had become common. During that same time period, a number of online
`
`market research suppliers (including Decisive and CustomerSat) started offering
`
`survey services for which the subject of the survey was the website itself. At the
`
`same time, a substantial number of website owners were implementing their own
`
`16
`
`Qualtrics, LLC
`Exhibit 1001
`CBM of U.S. Patent No. 8,041,805
`Page 018
`
`
`
`Declaration in Support of Petition for
`
`Covered Business Method Review of USPN 8,041,805
`
`“home-grown” user feedback systems.5 Many of these systems solicited feedback
`
`
`
`regarding the website itself.6
`
`40. As early as 1995, the technology necessary to implement such website
`
`user feedback systems was incorporated into the basic elements of HTML (or
`
`HyperText Markup Language), the programming language used to create web
`
`
`
` 5
`
` See Ex. 1006 (Scott E. Sampson, “Employing Internet Technologies to Gather
`
`Customers’ Quality Perceptions,” presented and published at the November 1997
`
`annual meeting of the Decision Sciences Institute) (“Sampson 1997”) at 1688 (re-
`
`paginated 1) (“Gathering feedback from customers has become a recent but
`
`prevalent phenomenon on the Internet…. Companies with information on the
`
`World Wide Web (or ‘Web’) frequently include a feedback form that customers
`
`can complete on screen and send at the click of a mouse.”).
`
`6 See, e.g., Ex. 1007 (Scott E. Sampson, “Gathering Customer Feedback via the
`
`Internet: Instruments and Prospects,” Industrial Management & Data Systems (vol.
`
`2, 1998)) (“Sampson 1998”) at 76 (re-paginated 6) (“The on-line submission
`
`requirement is less of a disadvantage if the company’s line of business is providing
`
`Web information, or if the company desires feedback about their Web site (which a
`
`few forms specifically said they desired).”).
`
`17
`
`Qualtrics, LLC
`Exhibit 1001
`CBM of U.S. Patent No. 8,041,805
`Page 019
`
`
`
`Declaration in Support of Petition for
`
`Covered Business Method Review of USPN 8,041,805
`
`pages and other information that can be displayed in a web browser.7 HTML links
`
`
`
`and forms (which were among the tools used by CustomerSat) were particularly
`
`well-adapted to soliciting and collecting feedback from visitors on a web page. As
`
`one industry observer wrote:
`
`[T]he Web contains provisions which facilitate the feedback process.
`These provisions are components of the language of Web: HTML, or
`HyperText Markup Language. Typically, HTML documents contain
`formatted text and hyperlinks (or “links”) which guide the user to
`other Web pages or other resources. HTML also includes provisions
`for forms and “mailto” links which can be used to gather feedback
`(Hoffman et al., 1995).
`. . .
`Of even greater feedback potential are the form provisions of HTML.
`An HTML document structured as a form may contain text fields,
`check boxes, and/ or drop-down lists of selections…. After the user
`has entered information to such an on-screen form, a “submit” button
`
`
` 7
`
` See, e.g., Hypertext Markup Language – 2.0 (September 22, 1995), available at
`
`http://www.w3.org/MarkUp/html-spec/html-spec_toc.html (HTML 2.0, introduced
`
`in 1995, included an HTML form INPUT element, allowing the collection of input
`
`using (among other things) checkboxes, radio buttons, and open-ended text fields);
`
`see also Ex. 1008 (HTML 4.0 Specification (April 24, 1998)) at 213 (HTML form
`
`INPUT types including text, checkbox, radio, and others).
`
`18
`
`Qualtrics, LLC
`Exhibit 1001
`CBM of U.S. Patent No. 8,041,805
`Page 020
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`Declaration in Support of Petition for
`Covered Business Method Review of USPN 8,041,805
`
`can be selected to automatically send the information to the
`company’s computer. The company receives the information in a
`structured format which allows various options for handling the
`data[.]8
`
`41. Further, along with HTML, JavaScript code was commonly
`
`incorporated into the software for a web page in order to provide an interactive
`
`user interface on that web page. JavaScript was developed in the mid-90s and by
`
`1998 was already an industry standard.
`
`42. Additionally, feedback collected using HTML forms was processed
`
`using Common Gateway Interface (“CGI”) scripts, typically located on the server
`
`hosting the feedback form.9 The information entered in the form could then be
`
`
`
` 8
`
` Sampson 1998 at 72 (re-paginated 2).
`
`9 See Sampson 1998 at 74 (re-paginated 4) (“The means of submitting feedback for
`
`all HTML forms [included in Sampson’s study] was the same. The customer calls
`
`up the HTML form and enters feedback information on the computer screen. When
`
`the customer selects the form’s “submit” button (which may be labelled something
`
`else such as “send comments”), the completed field information is returned to the
`
`company’s host computer. The data are submitted as an ASCII string with field
`
`19
`
`Qualtrics, LLC
`Exhibit 1001
`CBM of U.S. Patent No. 8,041,805
`Page 021
`
`
`
`Declaration in Support of Petition for
`
`Covered Business Method Review of USPN 8,041,805
`
`stored in a database for analytical and reporting purposes.10
`
`
`
`43. The HTML feedback form itself could be hosted on the same server as
`
`the website for which feedback was being solicited or on a different server,
`
`depending on the destination URL specified in the link (or other HTML resource)
`
`used to access the feedback form.
`
`44. All of the basic technology described above was well-known in the art
`
`in 1997–98.
`
`2.
`Use of Rating Scales and Open-Ended
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