`571-272-7822
`
`
`
`
`Paper 36
`Entered: April 10, 2019
`
`
`
`UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`BEFORE THE PATENT TRIAL AND APPEAL BOARD
`
`
`GOOGLE LLC,
`Petitioner,
`v.
`SEVEN NETWORKS, LLC,
`Patent Owner.
`
`
`Case IPR2018-01051
`Patent 9,516,127 B2
`
`
`
`
`
`Before THU A. DANG, JONI Y. CHANG, and
`JACQUELINE T. HARLOW, Administrative Patent Judges.
`
`CHANG, Administrative Patent Judge.
`
`
`DECISION
`Granting Motion to Expunge
`37 C.F.R.§ 42.56
`
`
`
`IPR2018-01051
`Patent 9,516,127 B2
`
`
`INTRODUCTION
`Petitioner filed a Motion to Expunge (Paper 35, “Motion” or “Mot.”)
`the confidential versions of Petitioner’s Reply (Paper 16), Patent Owner’s
`Sur-reply (Paper 18), the Decision on Institution (Paper 21), and Exhibits
`1040, 1043, 1047, 1048, 1051, and 2056–2058.1 Patent Owner does not
`oppose the Motion. For the following reasons, the Motion is granted.
`
`
`ANALYSIS
`“Confidential information that is subject to a protective order
`ordinarily would become public 45 days after denial of a petition to institute
`a trial or 45 days after final judgment in a trial.” Office Patent Trial Practice
`Guide, 77 Fed. Reg. 48,756, 48,761 (Aug. 14, 2012) (“Trial Practice
`Guide”). However, “[a]fter denial of a petition to institute a trial or after
`final judgment in a trial, a party may file a motion to expunge confidential
`information from the record.” 37 C.F.R. § 42.56. This “rule balances the
`needs of the parties to submit confidential information with the public
`interest in maintaining a complete and understandable file history for public
`notice purposes.” Trial Practice Guide, 77 Fed. Reg. at 48,761.
`Petitioner submits that expungement is appropriate because “[t]his
`proceeding was terminated based on a settlement” and without reliance
`“upon the confidential information.” Mot. 3. According to Petitioner, “[t]he
`sealed Confidential Documents . . . have no meaningful impact on the
`ultimate resolution of this proceeding.” Id. Thus, Petitioner contends that
`
`
`1 The record includes public redacted versions of Petitioner’s Reply
`(Paper 17), Patent Owner’s Sur-reply (Paper 19), the Decision on Institution
`(Paper 28), and Exhibits 1040 and 2056–2058.
`
`2
`
`
`
`IPR2018-01051
`Patent 9,516,127 B2
`
`“the public interest is far outweighed by the interest of the parties to preserve
`the confidentiality of these documents.” Id.
`We determine that it is appropriate to expunge the confidential
`versions of Petitioner’s Reply (Paper 16), Patent Owner’s Sur-reply
`(Paper 18), the Decision on Institution (Paper 21), and Exhibits 1040, 1043,
`1047, 1048, 1051, and 2056–2058, because: (1) the confidential information
`relates to real party in interest and privity issues and otherwise is not related
`to the merits of the case; and (2) the final judgment in this proceeding was
`based on the parties’ settlement. Therefore, the Motion is granted.
`
`
`ORDER
`
`It is hereby
`ORDERED that the Motion to Expunge is granted; and
`FURTHER ORDERED that the confidential versions of Petitioner’s
`Reply (Paper 16), Patent Owner’s Sur-reply (Paper 18), the Decision on
`Institution (Paper 21), and Exhibits 1040, 1043, 1047, 1048, 1051, and
`2056–2058 are expunged from the record in this proceeding.
`
`
`
`3
`
`
`
`IPR2018-01051
`Patent 9,516,127 B2
`
`
`
`For PETITIONER:
`Erika Arner
`Rachel Emsley
`Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett, & Dunner LLP
`erika.arner@finnegan.com
`rachel.emsley@finnegan.com
`
`For PATENT OWNER:
`Kenneth Weatherwax
`Nathan Lowenstein
`Edward Hsieh
`Parham Hendifar
`Lowenstein & Weatherwax LLP
`weatherwax@lowensteinweatherwax.com
`lowenstein@lowensteinweatherwax.com
`hsieh@lowensteinweatherwax.com
`hendifar@lowensteinweatherwax.com
`
`
`4
`
`
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