throbber
Paper 46
`Entered: August 27, 2014
`
`Trials@uspto.gov
`Tel: 571-272-7822
`
`
`
`
`
`UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
`
`_______________
`
`BEFORE THE PATENT TRIAL AND APPEAL BOARD
`
`_______________
`
`K-40 ELECTRONICS, LLC
`Petitioner
`
`v.
`
`ESCORT, INC.
`Patent Owner
`_______________
`
`Case IPR2013-00203
`Patent 7,999,721
`______________
`
`Before GLENN J. PERRY, THOMAS L. GIANNETTI, and
`TRENTON A. WARD, Administrative Patent Judges.
`
`
`
`WARD, Administrative Patent Judge.
`
`ORDER
`Motion to Seal Under 37 C.F.R. § 42.54,
`Motion to Exclude Under 37 C.F.R. § 42.64, and
`Motion Requesting Acceptance of Non-Electronic Submission
`
`
`
`
`
`

`
`IPR2013-00203
`Patent 7,999,721
`
`
`I. PATENT OWNER’S MOTION TO SEAL
`
`On March 10, 2014, K-40 Electronics, LLC (“Petitioner”) filed a request to
`
`seal the deposition transcript of Mr. Steve Orr (Ex. 1017) based on Patent Owner’s
`
`designation of certain portions of the transcript as confidential. Paper 19, 1.
`
`Additionally, Petitioner filed a redacted version of the same deposition transcript.
`
`See Ex. 1023. We issued an Order on March 14, 2014 deeming Petitioner’s
`
`request to be a motion to seal and denied the motion for failure to explain why the
`
`information redacted from the non-confidential version of the document is
`
`confidential. Paper 20, 2. On March 27, 2014, Escort Inc. (“Patent Owner”) filed
`
`an Unopposed Motion to Seal seeking to seal the Deposition Transcript of Mr.
`
`Steven K. Orr (Ex. 1017) under 37 C.F.R. § 42.54. Paper 24, 1.
`
`As stated in the Office Trial Practice Guide, 77 Fed. Reg. 48,756, 48,760
`
`(Aug. 14, 2012):
`
`The rules aim to strike a balance between the public’s interest in
`maintaining a complete and understandable file history and the parties’
`interest in protecting truly sensitive information.
`
`A party wishing to file a document or thing under seal must show good cause for
`
`the relief requested. 37 C.F.R. § 42.54. As the moving party, Patent Owner bears
`
`the burden of proof. 37 C.F.R. § 42.20(c). As part of its showing, Patent Owner
`
`must explain why the information is appropriate to be filed under seal. In the
`
`motion, Patent Owner identifies the confidential nature of the testimony redacted
`
`from Mr. Orr’s deposition transcript, including a discussion of private family legal
`
`matters, Mr. Orr’s personal relationships, and business confidential information not
`
`relevant to the proceeding. Paper 24, 7-9.
`
`The Board’s final decision does not rely upon any of testimony redacted
`
`from the deposition transcript. Thus, the public’s interest in maintaining a
`
`complete and understandable file history with respect to the redacted information
`
` 2
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`
`
`
`
`

`
`IPR2013-00203
`Patent 7,999,721
`
`does not outweighPatent Owner’s interest in protecting the sensitive information.
`
`In consideration of the above, we determine that Patent Owner has shown good
`
`cause and the motion to seal Ex. 1017 is granted.
`
`
`
`II. PATENT OWNER’S MOTION TO EXCLUDE
`
`On April 24, 2014, Patent Owner filed a motion to exclude the following:
`
`(1) Second Declaration of Dr. Bartone (Ex. 1021);
`
`(2) Patents incorporated by reference in Hoffberg and Fleming, III (Exs.
`
`1006, 1016, and 1022);
`
`(3) Alleged new evidence raised in Petitioner’s Reply (Ex. 1013);
`
`(4) Petitioner’s supplemental “level of ordinary skill” evidence (Exs. 1014,
`
`1015);
`
`(5) Supplemental claim construction evidence;
`
`(6) Portions of the deposition of Dr. John R. Grindon (Ex. 1019 at 45:3–17,
`
`46:2–17, 7:24–49:15, 110:20–114:23, 138:18–145:6, 145:17–146:2,
`
`157:20–158:12); and
`
`(7) Petitioner’s Reply (Paper 18).
`
`Paper 25 (“Mot. to Exclude”), 2–15.
`
`The party moving to exclude evidence bears the burden of proof to establish
`
`that it is entitled to the relief requested—namely, that the material sought to be
`
`excluded is inadmissible under the Federal Rules of Evidence. See 37 C.F.R. §§
`
`42.20(c), 42.62(a).
`
`The rules governing inter partes review set forth the proper procedure for
`
`objecting to, and moving to exclude, evidence when appropriate. When a party
`
`objects to evidence that was submitted during a preliminary proceeding, such an
`
`objection must be served within ten business days of the institution of trial. See 37
`
` 3
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`
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`

`
`IPR2013-00203
`Patent 7,999,721
`
`C.F.R. § 42.64(b)(1). Once a trial has been instituted, an objection must be served
`
`within five business days. See id. The objection to the evidence must identify the
`
`grounds for the objection with sufficient particularity to allow correction in the
`
`form of supplemental evidence. Id. This process allows the party relying on the
`
`evidence to which an objection is served timely the opportunity to correct, by
`
`serving supplemental evidence within ten business days of the service of the
`
`objection. See 37 C.F.R. §§ 42.64(b)(1), 42.64(b)(2). If, upon receiving the
`
`supplemental evidence, the opposing party is still of the opinion that the evidence
`
`is inadmissible, the opposing party may file a motion to exclude such evidence. 37
`
`C.F.R. § 42.64(c).
`
`A. Item (1): Second Declaration of Dr. Bartone (Ex. 1021)
`
`Petitioner has agreed to withdraw this exhibit. See Paper 30, 15. Exhibit
`
`1021 is referenced in a sentence in Petitioner’s Reply (Paper 18, 6), which was not
`
`relied upon by the Board in its final decision. Furthermore, Exhibit 1021 was not
`
`referenced at the oral hearing. Accordingly, Exhibit 1021 is hereby expunged as
`
`withdrawn and the motion to exclude Exhibit 1021, and any arguments relying
`
`upon Exhibit 1021 in Petitioner’s Reply, is denied.
`
`B. Items (2): Patents incorporated by reference in Hoffberg and Fleming,
`III (Exs. 1006, 1016, and 1022); (3) Alleged new evidence raised in
`Petitioner's Reply (Ex. 1013); and (7) Petitioner’s Reply (Paper 18)
`
`With respect to the evidence identified in items (2), (3), and (7) above,
`
`Patent Owner’s motion to exclude fails to indicate that Patent Owner timely served
`
`Petitioner with an objection. See Mot. to Exclude 2–15. Furthermore, Patent
`
`Owner’s motion does not identify or explain its objections to these items. See Mot.
`
`to Exclude 2–15. Petitioner argues that Patent Owner failed to timely to object to
`
`the materials subject to the motion to exclude and, thus, deprived Patent Owner of
`
`any potential remedial measures provided by 37 C.F.R. § 42.64(b)(2). Paper 30,
`
` 4
`
`
`
`
`
`

`
`IPR2013-00203
`Patent 7,999,721
`
`1–2. In view of Patent Owner’s failure to comport with the requirements of 37
`
`C.F.R. § 42.64, Patent Owner’s motion to exclude the evidence identified in items
`
`(2), (3), and (7) above is denied. See Google Inc. et al. v. Jongerius Panoramic
`
`Technolgies, LLC, IPR2013-00191, Paper 70, 64–65 (denying a motion to exclude
`
`because Patent Owner failed to identify and explain the associated objections);
`
`Apple Inc. v. Achates Reference Publishing, Inc., IPR2013-00080, Paper 90, 49
`
`(denying a motion to exclude for failure to allege that an objection was timely
`
`served).
`
`C. Items (4): Petitioner’s supplemental “level of ordinary skill” evidence
`(Exs. 1014, 1015); (5) Supplemental claim construction evidence; and (6)
`Portions of the deposition of Dr. John R. Grindon (Ex. 1019)
`
`With respect to this evidence, Patent Owner’s motion to exclude identifies
`
`objections made by Patent Owner at the deposition of Dr. Grindon. See Mot. to
`
`Exclude 8, 10, 11. Specifically, Patent Owner references a conference call
`
`conducted with the Board during the deposition of Dr. Grindon in which Patent
`
`Owner raised objections as to the relevance of certain questions asked of Dr.
`
`Grindon. Mot. to Exclude 8; see also Ex. 1019, 62:19–94:13. Specifically, the
`
`Motion to Exclude states that the Patent Owner objected to the relevance of a line
`
`of questioning of Dr. Grindon regarding the ’493 patent (Ex. 1015). Mot. to
`
`Exclude 8 (citing Ex. 1019, 45:8, 13, 16; 46:5, 9, 17, 20–24; 47:2–5, 14–16, 18–22;
`
`48:16; 49:3, 16–24; 50:5–17; 51:20–25; 62:19–83:3). The Board permitted the line
`
`of questioning as relevant to the level of skill in the art. See Ex. 1019, 92:5–9.
`
`Patent Owner alleges that the line of questioning was improper because there was
`
`ultimately no dispute as to the level of skill in the art; therefore, Patent Owner
`
`moves to exclude the Expert Report of Dr. Grindon from another lawsuit on which
`
`the questioning was based (Ex. 1014), U.S. Patent No. 6,201,493 (Ex. 1015), any
`
`other patents referenced in this discussion, and the testimony of Dr. Grindon
`
` 5
`
`
`
`
`
`

`
`IPR2013-00203
`Patent 7,999,721
`
`during the deposition regarding the questions under objection (Ex. 1019, 45:3–17,
`
`46:2–17, 47:24–49:15, 110:20–114:23, 138:18–145:6, 145:17–146:2, 157:20–
`
`158:12). Mot. to Exclude, 8-14.
`
`Patent Owner’s objections based on relevance are focused upon the extent to
`
`which the Petitioner ultimately relied upon the portions of Dr. Grindon’s testimony
`
`subject to an objection. Mot. to Exclude 8-14. We determine that Patent Owner’s
`
`objections go to the weight of the evidence in question rather than its admissibility.
`
`There is a strong public policy for making all information filed in a non-jury,
`
`quasi-judicial administrative proceeding available to the public, especially in an
`
`inter partes review which determines the patentability of claim in an issued patent.
`
`It is within the Board’s discretion to assign the appropriate weight to be accorded
`
`to evidence. See, e.g., In re Am. Acad. of Sci. Tech Ctr., 367 F.3d 1359, 1368 (Fed.
`
`Cir. 2004) (“[T]he Board is entitled to weigh the declarations and conclude that the
`
`lack of factual corroboration warrants discounting the opinions expressed in the
`
`declarations.”). Accordingly, we deny Patent Owner’s motion to exclude the
`
`evidence identified in items (4), (5) and (6) above.
`
`In view of the foregoing, Patent Owner’s motion to exclude is denied on all
`
`grounds.
`
`
`
`III. PETITIONER’S MOTION REQUESTING ACCEPTANCE OF
`NON-ELECTRONIC SUBMISSION
`
`On May 30, 2014, we issued an Order on Request for Rehearing, which
`
`granted Petitioner the ability to submit up to 30 minutes of the video record of the
`
`deposition of Mr. Orr. Paper 36, 4. In view of that Order, Petitioner filed a
`
`Motion Requesting Acceptance of Non-Electronic Submission requesting that the
`
`Board accept a DVD video file (Ex. 1024) providing a copy of 30 minutes of
`
` 6
`
`
`
`
`
`

`
`IPR2013-00203
`Patent 7,999,721
`
`excerpts from the deposition of Mr. Orr. Paper 43. We hereby grant the motion
`
`and accept the submission of the DVD video file.
`
`This video was not uploaded into the record through the Board’s PRPS
`
`electronic filing system, however, because the video file exceeds the PRPS
`
`maximum file size. See Patent Review Processing System (“PRPS”) FAQ A4
`
`(http://www.uspto.gov/ip/boards/bpai/prps.jsp). The Board, therefore, requests
`
`that, through PRPS, Petitioner file the previously submitted Ex. 1024 video file in
`
`multiple parts, each file being less than 25 megabytes, no later than five business
`
`days after the mailing date of this order. Should there be any difficulty uploading
`
`the files, Petitioner should contact the Board for further guidance.
`
`
`
`In view of the foregoing, it is, therefore,
`
`ORDER
`
`ORDERED Patent Owner’s motion to seal Ex. 1017 is granted;
`
`FURTHER ORDERED that Ex. 1021 is expunged as withdrawn;
`
`FURTHER ORDERED that Patent Owner’s motion to exclude is denied;
`
`FURTHER ORDERED that Petitioner’s Motion Requesting Acceptance of
`
`Non-Electric Submission is granted; and
`
`FURTHER ORDERED that Petitioner file the previously submitted video
`
`file of Mr. Orr’s deposition testimony, Ex. 1024, in multiple parts complying with
`
`the file size requirements of PRPS, no later than five business days after the
`
`mailing date of this order.
`
`
`
` 7
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`

`
`IPR2013-00203
`Patent 7,999,721
`
`For PETITIONER:
`Greg Gardella
`Scott McKeown
`Michael Kiklis
`OLBON SPIVAK
`cpdocketgardella@oblon.com
`cpdocketmckeown@oblon.com
`CPDocketKiklis@oblon.com
`
`
`
`For PATENT OWNER:
`Thomas W. Humphrey
`John Paul Davis
`WOOD HERRON & EVANS, LLP
`thumphrey@whe-law.com
`jdavis@whe-law.com
`
`
`
` 8

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