Trials@uspto.gov Paper: 57
`Tel: 571-272-7822 Entered: March 29, 2019
`
`
`
`
`
`UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
`____________
`
`BEFORE THE PATENT TRIAL AND APPEAL BOARD
`____________
`
`COMCAST CABLE COMMUNICATIONS, LLC,
`Petitioner,
`
`v.
`
`PROMPTU SYSTEMS CORPORATION,
`Patent Owner.
`____________
`
`Case IPR2018-00341
`Patent 7,260,538 B2
`____________
`
`
`
`Before JAMESON LEE, ROBERT L. KINDER, and
`ALEX S. YAP, Administrative Patent Judges
`
`YAP, Administrative Patent Judge.
`
`
`
`
`
`
`ORDER
`Decision on Petitioner’s Motions to Seal
`37 C.F.R. §§ 42.14 and 42.54
`
`
`
`Tel: 571-272-7822 Entered: March 29, 2019
`
`
`
`
`
`UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
`____________
`
`BEFORE THE PATENT TRIAL AND APPEAL BOARD
`____________
`
`COMCAST CABLE COMMUNICATIONS, LLC,
`Petitioner,
`
`v.
`
`PROMPTU SYSTEMS CORPORATION,
`Patent Owner.
`____________
`
`Case IPR2018-00341
`Patent 7,260,538 B2
`____________
`
`
`
`Before JAMESON LEE, ROBERT L. KINDER, and
`ALEX S. YAP, Administrative Patent Judges
`
`YAP, Administrative Patent Judge.
`
`
`
`
`
`
`ORDER
`Decision on Petitioner’s Motions to Seal
`37 C.F.R. §§ 42.14 and 42.54
`
`
`
`
`Case IPR2018-00341
`Patent 7,260,538 B2
`
`
`I. INTRODUCTION
`Comcast Cable Communications, LLC (“Petitioner”) filed three
`motions to seal various exhibits and materials in the current proceeding
`pursuant to 37 C.F.R. §§ 42.14 and 42.54. See Papers 24, 31, and 41.
`
`A. First Motion to Seal
`Through the first Motion to Seal, Petitioner seeks to seal portions of
`Exhibits 2022, 2023, and 2031 and represents that Patent Owner, Promptu
`Systems Corp., does not oppose the motion. Paper 24, 2. Corresponding
`redacted exhibits have been filed as exhibits 1023, 1024, and 1025. Exhibit
`2022 is a “License and Development Agreement” between Comcast IP
`Holdings I, LLC and Comcast Corporation, and AgileTV Corporation.
`Paper 24, 2; see Ex. 2022. Exhibit 2023 is a “Marketing Trial Agreement
`for Voice Activated Television Control Service” between Comcast Cable
`Communications Management, LLC and AgileTV Corporation. Paper 24, 2;
`see Ex. 2023. Exhibit 2031 is a Comcast presentation titled “AgileTV
`Update,” and “describes the financial, marketing, and technical evaluations
`and projections for the trial of the AgileTV product as well as usability
`studies and metrics for voice control more generally.” Paper 24, 3; see
`Ex. 2031. Petitioner certifies that these exhibits contain confidential
`information that has not been published or otherwise made publicly
`available. Paper 24, 3. The alleged confidential information were not relied
`on or referred to in the Final Written Decision. Thus, protecting the alleged
`confidential material from public disclosure does not harm the public’s interest
`in maintaining a complete and understandable file history. Furthermore, the
`redactions appear to be limited in extent, and the motion is unopposed. We
`
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`Case IPR2018-00341
`Patent 7,260,538 B2
`
`determine that good cause exists to grant this motion to seal (Paper 24).
`37 C.F.R. § 42.54.
`
`B. Second Motion to Seal
` Through the second Motion to Seal, Petitioner seeks to seal portions
`of Exhibit 1026, which “contains excerpts from the transcript of the
`deposition of Paul Cook.” Paper 31, 1. A corresponding redacted copy of
`Exhibit 1026 has been filed. See Exhibit 1035. Petitioner proposes to seal
`Exhibit portions of 1026 because those portions “disclose[] the amount of a
`proposed patent license agreement between the parties” or “the specific
`amount of consideration under the License and Development Agreement
`entered by the parties and additional confidential terms of that agreement.”
`Paper 31, 4–6. According to Petitioner, “[n]one of the specific dollar
`amounts disclosed in the exhibit are cited in Comcast’s reply brief or
`elsewhere in the parties’ briefing on the merits[, t]hus the public will have
`no interest in this specific confidential information with regard to the
`patentability of the challenged claims.” Paper 31, 4. In addition, Petitioner
`contends that the “information is confidential and its disclosure would harm
`Petitioner in similar negotiations involving patent or other licenses with
`other third parties.” Paper 31, 4–6.
`Patent Owner states that “[a]lthough Promptu indicated it does not
`oppose Comcast’s motion to seal, Promptu was ordered that it ‘still should
`inform the Board whether the information sought to be sealed by Petitioner
`constitutes confidential information or if the information is in the public
`domain.’ Paper 40 at 2.” Paper 45, 1. According to Patent Owner, “the
`information [Petitioner sought to seal] does not constitute confidential
`information and [that] the information is in the public domain.” Id. at 1, 9–
`
`3
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`Case IPR2018-00341
`Patent 7,260,538 B2
`
`10.1 For example, Promptu’s amended complaint in its district court action
`and “several details regarding Comcast’s valuation of Promptu’s technology
`are already in the public domain.” Id. at 10. Promptu’s amended complaint
`states that “To further encourage Promptu to continue to disclose its
`proprietary voice recognition technology, Comcast represented it would
`invest $2 million of capital into Promptu.” Id. at 2 (citing to Promptu Sys.
`Corp. v. Comcast Corp., Case No. 2:16-CV- 6516-JS (E.D. Pa.), ECF No.
`30, ¶ 32). Patent Owner also points to Exhibits 2002 and 2003 in support of
`its contention. Exhibit 2002 is an AgileTV Corporation Executive Summary
`and Exhibit 2003 appears to be an AgileTV presentation titled “AgileTV
`Voice Navigation.” In addition, Patent Owner also argues that “the material
`is already publicly known, by virtue of the information having originated
`from the mouth of a non-party subject to no obligation of confidentiality.”
`Paper 45, 9–10. According to Patent Owner, Mr. Cook, “Promptu’s former
`CEO and a non-party, [] is no longer under any obligation of confidentiality”
`and did not designate his testimony as being confidential during his
`deposition. Id. at 6.
`In response, Petitioner contends that “Patent Owner does not identify
`any public source for the loan amount and instead cites its own allegations in
`the district court complaint that do not reveal the amount of the loan.” Paper
`49, 1. Petitioner also contends that Mr. Cook’s testimony “was provided in
`
`
`1 Patent Owner also argues that the information is not confidential because
`Petitioner did not properly designate Ex. 1026 under the protective order.
`Paper 45, 4–9. We do not find this argument persuasive because Patent
`Owner does not explain why a protective order, or compliance with a
`protective order, is a prerequisite to filing a motion to seal.
`4
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`Case IPR2018-00341
`Patent 7,260,538 B2
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`a conference room before attorneys bound by protective orders[, and is
`therefore] not a public statement.” Id.
`“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.” Office Patent Trial
`Practice Guide, 77 Fed. Reg. 48760 (August 14, 2012). Here, the alleged
`confidential information is not relied on or referred to in the Final Written
`Decision. Thus, a complete and understandable file history does not depend on
`disclosure of any of the alleged confidential information at issue. Also, the scope
`of protection sought by Petitioner is limited, i.e., redacting “the amount of a
`proposed patent license agreement between the parties” and “the specific
`amount of consideration under the License and Development Agreement
`entered by the parties and additional confidential terms of that agreement.”
`Paper 31, 4–6. We determine that good cause exists to grant Petitioner’s
`Second Motion to Seal. 37 C.F.R. § 42.54.
`
`C. Third Motion to Seal
` Through the Third Motion to Seal, Petitioner seeks to seal parts of
`Patent Owner’s Sur-Reply (Paper 37), which “disclose[] the specific amount
`Comcast loaned to Patent Owner to conduct trials intended for Patent Owner
`to demonstrate its AgileTV product to Comcast.” Paper 41, 1. A
`corresponding redacted copy of Patent Owner’s Sur-Reply has been filed.
`See Paper 42. Patent Owner states that “[a]lthough Promptu indicated it
`does not oppose Comcast’s motion to seal, Promptu was ordered that it ‘still
`should inform the Board whether the information sought to be sealed by
`Petitioner constitutes confidential information or if the information is in the
`public domain.’ Paper 40 at 2.” Paper 45, 1. Patent Owner presents the
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`Case IPR2018-00341
`Patent 7,260,538 B2
`
`same arguments as discussed above relating to Petitioner’s Second Motion
`to Seal. The alleged confidential information (i.e., “the specific amount
`Comcast loaned to Patent Owner to conduct trials intended for Patent Owner
`to demonstrate its AgileTV product to Comcast”) is not relied on or referred
`to in the Final Written Decision. A complete and understandable file history
`does not depend on disclosure of any of the alleged confidential information at
`issue. Also, the scope of protection sought by Petitioner is limited, i.e., the
`specific amount Comcast loaned to Patent Owner to conduct trials intended
`for Patent Owner to demonstrate its AgileTV product to Comcast. We
`determine that good cause exists to grant Petitioner’s Third Motion to Seal.
`37 C.F.R. § 42.54.
`
`
`ORDER
`
`It is, therefore,
`ORDERED that Petitioner’s Motion to Seal Exhibits 2022, 2023, and
`2031 (Paper 24) is granted;
`FURTHER ORDERED that Petitioner’s Motion to Seal Exhibit 1026
`(Paper 31) is granted; and
`FURTHER ORDERED that Petitioner’s Motion to Seal Patent
`Owner’s Sur-Reply is granted.
`
`6
`
`
`
`Case IPR2018-00341
`Patent 7,260,538 B2
`
`PETITIONER:
`
`James L. Day
`Daniel Callaway
`FARELLA BRAUN + MARTEL LLP
`jday@fbm.com
`dcallaway@fbm.com
`
`Leo L. Lam
`KEKER, VAN NEST & PETERS LLP
`llam@kvn.com
`
`
`PATENT OWNER:
`
`Joshua L. Goldberg
`Jacob A. Schroeder
`Cory C. Bell
`Daniel Klodowski
`FINNEGAN, HENDERSON, FARABOW, GARRETT & DUNNER, LLP
`joshua.goldberg@finnegan.com
`jacob.schroeder@finnegan.com
`cory.bell@finnegan.com
`daniel.klodowski@finnegan.com
`
`
`7
`
`
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