`Trials@uspto.gov
`571-272-7822 Entered: July 2, 2019
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`UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
`____________
`
`BEFORE THE PATENT TRIAL AND APPEAL BOARD
`____________
`
`UNIFIED WEB TECHNOLOGIES, LLC
`Petitioner,
`
`v.
`
`RECURSIVE WEB TECHNOLOGIES, LLC and
`SPIDER SEARCH ANALYTICS, LLC
`Patent Owners.
`____________
`
`Case IPR2019-00472
`Patent 7,454,430 B1
`____________
`
`
`
`Before NEIL T. POWELL, JESSICA C. KAISER, and JOHN R. KENNY,
`Administrative Patent Judges.
`
`KENNY, Administrative Patent Judge.
`
`
`
`
`DECISION
`Termination of the Proceeding
`35 U.S.C. § 317 and 37 C.F.R. §§ 42.72, 42.74
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`
`
`IPR2019-00472
`Patent 7,454,430 B1
`
`
`DISCUSSION
`On April 10, 2019, in response to a joint email request from the
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`parties, we authorized the parties to file a joint motion to terminate this case
`and a joint request to file their settlement agreement as business confidential
`information. With that authorization, the parties filed a Joint Motion to
`Dismiss Under 35 U.S.C. § 317 and 37 C.F.R. § 42.74 (Paper 6, “Joint
`Mot.”) and a Joint Motion to Keep Confidential and Separate Under 35
`U.S.C. § 317(b) and 37 C.F.R. § 42.74(c) (Paper 7). The parties also filed a
`copy of their written settlement agreement under 37 C.F.R. § 42.74(b).
`Ex. 1019. For the reasons discussed below, the parties’ Joint Motion to
`Dismiss and Joint Request to Treat as Confidential and Separate are granted.
`
`In the Joint Motion to Dismiss, the parties indicate that termination of
`this proceeding is appropriate because they have settled their disputes
`involving U.S. Patent No. 7,454,430. Joint Mot. 1. Further, the parties
`represent that there are no other collateral agreements or understandings
`made that relate to the termination of this IPR. Id. at 1. In addition, as the
`parties indicate, this proceeding is at an early stage, and trial has not been
`instituted. Id. at 2.
`
`Under 35 U.S.C. § 317(a), “[a]n inter partes review instituted under
`this chapter shall be terminated with respect to any petitioner upon the joint
`request of the petitioner and patent owner, unless the Office has decided the
`merits of the proceeding before the request for termination is filed.” Further,
`under 37 C.F.R. § 42.74(b), “[a]ny agreement or understanding between the
`parties made in connection with, or in contemplation of, the termination of a
`proceeding shall be in writing and a true copy shall be filed with the Board
`before termination of the trial.”
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`2
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`
`
`IPR2019-00472
`Patent 7,454,430 B1
`
`There are strong public policy reasons to favor settlement between the
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`parties to a proceeding. Office Patent Trial Practice Guide, 77 Fed. Reg.
`48,756, 48,768 (Aug. 14, 2012). When, as here, the proceeding is still in its
`preliminary stages and we have not entered a decision on whether or not to
`institute an inter partes proceeding, we generally expect that the proceeding
`will terminate after the filing of a settlement agreement. See id. Because the
`parties have filed their written settlement agreement, we determine that it is
`appropriate to terminate this proceeding. See 37 C.F.R. §§ 42.72, 42.74.
`
`
`ORDER
`
`Accordingly, it is:
`
`ORDERED that the parties’ request to treat the settlement agreement
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`(Ex. 1019) as business confidential information under 35 U.S.C. § 317(b)
`and 37 C.F.R. § 42.74(c) is GRANTED; and
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`FURTHER ORDERED that the parties’ request to terminate this
`proceeding is GRANTED, and this proceeding is terminated.
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`3
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`IPR2019-00472
`Patent 7,454,430 B1
`
`
`For PETITIONER:
`
`Jason Mudd
`Eric Buresh
`ERISE IP, P.A.
`jason.mudd@eriseip.com
`eric.buresh@eriseip.com
`
`
`
`Jonathan Bowser
`Roshan Mansinghani
`UNIFIED PATENTS INC.
`jbowser@unifiedpatents.com
`roshan@unifiedpatents.com
`
`For PATENT OWNER:
`Richard Baker
`NEW ENGLAND INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY, LLC
`rbaker@newenglandip.com
`
`Alexander Pokot
`AP PATENTS
`alex@ap-patents.com
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`4
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