UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
`
`———————
`
`BEFORE THE PATENT TRIAL AND APPEAL BOARD
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`———————
`
`TESLA INC.,
`Petitioner,
`
`———————
`
`IPR2025-00341
`U.S. Patent No. 7,181,743
`_____________________
`
`DECLARATION OF DR. EREZ ZADOK,
`UNDER 37 C.F.R. § 1.68 IN SUPPORT OF PETITION FOR
`INTER PARTES REVIEW
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`Zadok Declaration
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`I. 
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`Inter Partes Review of U.S. 7,181,743
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`TABLE OF CONTENTS
`Introduction ...................................................................................................... 8 
`A.  Materials Considered ............................................................................. 8 
`Qualifications and Professional Experience .................................................. 10 
`II. 
`III.  Level of Ordinary Skill in the Art ................................................................. 21 
`IV.  Relevant Legal Standards .............................................................................. 22 
`V. 
`Technical Background ................................................................................... 23 
`A.  General Computer Operations ............................................................. 23 
`1. 
`Networking Overview ........................................ 26 
`Networked and Distributed Systems ................................................... 30 
`1. 
`Clustering, Quality-of-Service,
`and
`Load
`Balancing ............................................................ 32 
`Virtualization ....................................................................................... 35 
`C. 
`VI.  Overview of the ’743 Patent .......................................................................... 39 
`A. 
`Summary of the ’743 patent ................................................................ 39 
`B. 
`Prosecution History ............................................................................. 46 
`C. 
`Priority Date of the ’743 Patent........................................................... 47 
`VII.  Claim Construction ........................................................................................ 49 
`VIII.  Identification of how the Claims are Unpatentable ....................................... 49 
`A.  Ground 1: Claims 10, 11, 14, 16, and 18 are obvious under 35
`U.S.C. § 103 over Welch alone and in combination with
`Ravindran. ........................................................................................... 51 
`1. 
`Summary of Welch ............................................ 51 
`2. 
`Summary of Ravindran ...................................... 59 
`
`B. 
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`3. 
`4. 
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`Motivation to Combine Welch and Ravindran .. 60 
`Claim 10. ............................................................ 61 
`(a) 
`[10.0] Software stored on at least one
`host for converting N networked hosts
`into a resource managed system
`instantiating
`M
`managed
`characteristic application computer
`programs,
`each
`managed
`characteristic application computer
`program managed by one of the N
`networked
`hosts,
`the
`software
`comprising: ............................................... 61 
`[10.1] a first function group which
`monitors
`the host and network
`resources; .................................................. 71 
`[10.2] a second function group which
`provides
`application
`computer
`program event reporting and event
`correlation capabilities; ............................ 77 
`[10.3] a third function group which
`provides
`reasoning and decision
`making capabilities for the resource
`managed system, ....................................... 85 
`[10.4] wherein the third function
`group comprises: a first function
`which determines a state and health of
`the N hosts, a network operatively
`coupling the N hosts to one another
`and the M managed characteristic
`application computer programs in the
`distributed environment; ........................... 91 
`[10.5] a second function which
`determines required allocation and
`reallocation
`actions
`needed
`to
`
`(b) 
`
`(c) 
`
`(d) 
`
`(e) 
`
`(f) 
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`Zadok Declaration
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`5. 
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`Inter Partes Review of U.S. 7,181,743
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`maintain a plurality of Quality of
`Service
`(QoS)
`requirements
`established
`for
`the M managed
`characteristic application computer
`programs,
`the QoS
`requirement
`dictating
`parameters
`regarding
`service quality of the M management
`characteristic application programs;
`and .......................................................... 100 
`[10.6] a
`third
`function which
`generates automatic control signal
`requests corresponding to the actions
`dictated by the QoS requirements,
`such that the managed characteristic
`application computer programs are
`moved, shutdown, and started in
`accordance with satisfaction of the
`QoS requirements; and ........................... 106 
`[10.7] a fourth function group which
`provides program control capabilities
`permitting starting, stopping, and
`configuring of selected ones of the M
`managed characteristic application
`computer programs on respective
`ones of the N hosts in the resource
`managed system, ..................................... 110 
`[10.8] where M and N are positive
`integers and where M may be equal
`to, greater than, or less than N. ............... 113 
`Claim 11. .......................................................... 115 
`(a) 
`[11] The software as recited in claim
`10, wherein the first function receives
`system
`specification
`information
`comprising host configuration and
`capabilities. ............................................. 115 
`
`(g) 
`
`(h) 
`
`(i) 
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`6. 
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`7. 
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`8. 
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`Inter Partes Review of U.S. 7,181,743
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`Claim 14. .......................................................... 119 
`(a) 
`[14] The software as recited in claim
`10, wherein the first function receives
`program
`control
`information
`comprising application status and
`detected application faults for each of
`the M managed
`characteristic
`application computer programs, and
`detected failures regarding the N
`hosts. ....................................................... 119 
`Claim 16. .......................................................... 123 
`(a) 
`[16] The software as recited in claim
`10, wherein the first function receives
`application
`performance
`data
`representing each one of the M
`managed characteristic application
`computer programs. ................................ 123 
`Claim 18. .......................................................... 124 
`(a) 
`[18.0] The software as recited in
`claim 10, wherein the second function
`which determines
`the
`required
`allocation and reallocation actions
`established
`for
`the M managed
`characteristic application computer
`programs by: ........................................... 124 
`[18.1] responding to application and
`host failures by determining if and
`what recovery actions should be
`taken; ...................................................... 124 
`[18.2] determining if and where to
`place new copies of managed
`characteristic application computer
`programs
`or which managed
`characteristic application computer
`
`(b) 
`
`(c) 
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`Inter Partes Review of U.S. 7,181,743
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`B. 
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`programs should be shutdown when
`QoS Manager functions indicate that
`scale up or scale down ations should
`be
`taken based on measured
`application performance and QoS
`specifications established for the M
`managed characteristic application
`computer programs; ................................ 126 
`[18.3] determining where new
`application
`computer
`programs
`should be placed when requested to
`do so by the fourth function group;
`and .......................................................... 129 
`[18.4] determining which and how
`many application computer programs
`should run based on application
`system priorities. ..................................... 130 
`Ground 2: Claims 10, 11, 14, 16, and 18 are obvious under 35
`U.S.C. § 103 over Welch, Ravindran, and Hosokawa. ..................... 132 
`1. 
`Hosokawa ......................................................... 133 
`2. 
`Motivation to combine Welch, Ravindran, and
`Hosokawa ......................................................... 137 
`(a) 
`The number of applications are
`independent from the number of
`hosts. ....................................................... 138 
`Management software executing on a
`host .......................................................... 142 
`Claim 10 ........................................................... 146 
`(a) 
`[10.0] Software stored on at least one
`host for converting N networked hosts
`into a resource managed system
`instantiating
`M
`managed
`characteristic application computer
`
`(d) 
`
`(e) 
`
`(b) 
`
`3. 
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`Inter Partes Review of U.S. 7,181,743
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`
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`managed
`each
`programs,
`characteristic application computer
`program managed by one of te N
`networked
`hosts,
`the
`software
`comprising: ............................................. 146 
`Limitations [10.1]-[10.7] ........................ 148 
`[10.8] where M and N are positive
`integers and where M may be equal
`to, greater than, or less than N. ............... 148 
`Claims 11, 14, 16, and 18 ................................. 154 
`4. 
`IX.  Conclusion ................................................................................................... 155 
`
`
`
`(b) 
`(c) 
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`Zadok Declaration
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`I, Dr. Erez Zadok, do hereby declare as follows:
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`Inter Partes Review of U.S. 7,181,743
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`I.
`
`INTRODUCTION
`1.
`
`I am making this declaration at the request of Tesla Inc. in the matter
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`of the Inter Partes Review of U.S. Patent No. 7,181,743 (“the ’743 patent”) to
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`Werme et al.
`
`2. My consulting company is being reimbursed for reasonable and
`
`customary expenses associated with my work and testimony in this investigation.
`
`My compensation is not contingent on the outcome of this matter or the specifics of
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`my testimony, and I have no other interest in this case or the parties thereto.
`
`3.
`
`I have been asked to provide my opinions regarding whether claims 10,
`
`11, 14, 16, and 18 (“the Challenged Claims”) of the ’743 patent are unpatentable as
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`they would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art
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`(“POSITA”) at the time of the alleged invention, in light of the prior art. It is my
`
`opinion that all of the limitations of the challenged claims would have been obvious
`
`to a POSITA.
`
`A. Materials Considered
`4.
`
`In the preparation of this declaration, I have studied the following
`
`references:
`
`
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`Zadok Declaration
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`Exhibit Description
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`Inter Partes Review of U.S. 7,181,743
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`Abbreviation
`
`
`
`1001
`
`1002
`
`1004
`
`1005
`
`1006
`
`1007
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`1008
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`1009
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`1016
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`1017
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`1018
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`
`
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`U.S. Patent No. 7,181,743 to Werme et al.
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`’743 patent
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`Prosecution history of the ’743 patent
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`’743 File History
`
`Zadok Curriculum Vitae
`
`“Distributed, Scalable, Dependable Real-Time
`Systems: Middleware Services and Applications.”
`Lonnie R. Welch et al., Proceedings 13th
`International Parallel Processing Symposium and
`10th Symposium on Parallel and Distributed
`Processing, April 1999
`“Specification and Modeling of Dynamic,
`Distributed Real-time Systems.”
` Lonnie R.
`Welch, Binoy Ravindran, et al. IEEE Real-Time
`Systems Symposium, 72-81, IEEE Computer
`Society Press, Dec. 1998
`U.S. Patent No. 6,088,727 to Hosokawa et al.
`
`Zadok CV
`
`Welch
`
`Ravindran
`
`Hosokawa
`
`U.S. Patent No. 6,269,396 to Shah et al.
`
`Shah
`
`U.S. Provisional Patent No. 60/207,891
`
`’891 provisional
`
`U.S. Patent Publication No. 2002/0064126 to
`Bhaatal
`U.S. Patent No. 6,041,306 to Du
`
`Bhaatal
`
`Du
`
`U.S. Patent No. 6,742,020 to Dimitroff
`
`Dimitroff
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`Zadok Declaration
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`Exhibit Description
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`Inter Partes Review of U.S. 7,181,743
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`1019
`
`Microsoft Computer Dictionary, 3rd ed., 1997,
`excerpts
`
`1020
`
`Microsoft Computer Dictionary, 4th ed., 1999,
`excerpts
`
`Abbreviation
`
`
`
`Microsoft
`
`Computer
`
`Dictionary 1997
`
`Microsoft
`
`Computer
`
`Dictionary 1999
`
`
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`5.
`
`In addition, I considered the relevant legal standards, including the
`
`standard for obviousness, and any additional authoritative documents as cited in the
`
`body of this declaration.
`
`6.
`
`Finally, I considered my own knowledge and experience based upon
`
`my work in the field of networking as described below.
`
`7.
`
`Unless otherwise noted, all emphasis in any quoted material has been
`
`added.
`
`II. QUALIFICATIONS AND PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
`8. My complete qualifications and professional experience are described
`
`in my Curriculum Vitae, a copy of which can be found in EX1004. The following
`
`is a brief summary of my relevant qualifications and professional experience.
`
`9.
`
`I am a Professor in the Computer Science Department at Stony Brook
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`University (part of the State University of New York (“SUNY”) system). I direct
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`Inter Partes Review of U.S. 7,181,743
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`the File-systems and Storage Lab (FSL) at Stony Brook’s Computer Science
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`Department. My research interests include file systems and storage systems,
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`operating systems,
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`transactional systems
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`including database
`
`technologies,
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`information technology and system administration, security/privacy and information
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`assurance, networking, energy efficiency, performance and benchmarking,
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`virtualization, cloud systems, compilers, applied machine learning, and software
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`engineering.
`
`10.
`
`I studied at a professional high school in Israel, focusing on electrical
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`engineering (“EE”), and graduated in 1982. I spent one more year at the high
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`school’s college division, receiving a special Certified Technician’s degree in EE. I
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`then went on to serve in the Israeli Defense Forces for three years (1983–1986). I
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`received my Bachelor of Science degree in computer science (“CS”) in 1991, my
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`Master’s degree in CS in 1994, and my PhD in CS in 2001—all from Columbia
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`University in New York.
`
`11. When I began my undergraduate studies at Columbia University, I also
`
`started working as a student assistant in the various campus-wide computer labs,
`
`eventually becoming an assistant to the head labs manager, who was managing all
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`public computer labs on campus. During that time, I also became more involved
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`with research within the CS Department at Columbia University, conducting
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`research on operating systems, file and storage systems, distributed and networked
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`Inter Partes Review of U.S. 7,181,743
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`systems, security, and other topics. I also assisted the CS department’s computer
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`administrators in managing the department’s computers, which included storage, IT,
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`networking, and cyber-security related duties.
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`12.
`
`In 1991, I joined Columbia University’s CS department as a full-time
`
`systems administrator, studying towards my MS degree part-time. My MS thesis
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`topic is related to file system reliability, fault tolerance, replication, and failover in
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`mobile networked storage systems using file virtualization. My main duties as a
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`systems administrator involved installing, configuring, and managing many
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`networked servers, proxies, and desktops running several operating systems, as well
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`as network devices setup; this included many software and hardware upgrades,
`
`device upgrades, and BIOS firmware/chipset updates/upgrades. My duties also
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`included ensuring
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`reliable,
`
`secure, authenticated access
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`to networked
`
`systems/storage and licensed software, as well as software updates, security and bug
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`fixes. Examples of servers and their protocols included email (SMTP), file transfer
`
`(FTP), domain names (DNS), network file systems (NFS), network news systems
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`(NNTP), and Web (HTTP).
`
`13.
`
`In 1994, I left my systems administrator position to pursue my doctoral
`
`studies at Columbia University. My PhD thesis topic was on versatile file system
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`development using stackable (virtualized) file systems, with examples in the fields
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`of security and encryption, efficiency, reliability, and failover. I continued to work
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`part-time as a systems administrator at the CS department, and eventually I was
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`asked to serve as manager to the entire information technology (“IT”) staff. From
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`1991 to 2001, I was also a member of the faculty-level Facilities Committee that
`
`oversaw all IT operations at the CS department.
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`14. As part of my PhD studies at Columbia, I collaborated on projects to
`
`develop advanced AI-like techniques to detect previously unknown viruses (a.k.a.
`
`“zero-day malware”), using data mining and rule-based detection. This work led to
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`several highly cited papers (over 1,600 citations for one of the papers alone) and two
`
`patents. I also became a Teaching Assistant (“TA”) for a first-ever Computer
`
`Security course given at Columbia University’s CS department with Dr. Matt Blaze
`
`as instructor.
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`15. From 1990 to 1998, I consulted for SOS Corporation and HydraWEB
`
`Technologies as a systems administrator and programmer, managing data storage
`
`use and backup/restore duties, databases, web servers, as well as information
`
`assurance and cyber-security (e.g., malware protection, software licensing). From
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`1994 to 2000, I led projects at HydraWEB Technologies, and then became the
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`Director of Software Development—overseeing the development of several
`
`products and appliances such as stateful firewalls and HTTP load-balancers,
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`utilizing network-virtualization and high-availability techniques. From 2009 to
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`2019, I have consulted for Packet General Networks, a startup specializing in secure,
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`virtualized, network storage and applications’ data security in the cloud.
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`16.
`
`In 2001, I joined the faculty of Stony Brook University, a position I
`
`have held since that time. In 2002, I joined the Operations Committee, which
`
`oversees the IT operations of the CS department at Stony Brook University. From
`
`2006 to 2010, I was the Director of IT Operations of the CS department. My day-
`
`to-day duties included setting policies regarding computing, hiring and training new
`
`staff, assisting any staff with topics of my specialty, defining requirements for new
`
`software/hardware, and purchasing. From 2010 to 2015, I had served as the Co-
`
`Chair to the Operations Committee. From 2016 to 2019, I oversaw the IT Operations
`
`as the Chair of the Operations Committee. A significant component of these duties
`
`included defining and helping implement policies for data management, to ensure
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`the security of users and their data, and data reliability and availability, while
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`minimizing the inconvenience and performance impact to users. I personally helped
`
`setup and maintain an initial virtual-host infrastructure in the department. Since late
`
`2019, I’ve been a member of the department’s Executive Committee that also
`
`oversees all IT operations.
`
`17.
`
`In 2017, I became the department’s Graduate Academic Adviser,
`
`advising all Master students (over 400 annually on average) and many other graduate
`
`students on an assortment of academic matters. In August 2024, I took over as the
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`department’s Graduate Program Director, overseeing the entire graduate CS
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`program (700-800 students annually on average).
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`18. Since 2001, I have personally configured and managed my own
`
`research lab’s network. This includes setting up and configuring multiple storage
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`systems (e.g., NFS, CIFS/SMB, NAS), virtual and physical environments,
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`applications such as database (e.g., MySQL, Postgresql), Web servers (e.g.,
`
`Apache), and mail servers; user access control (e.g., NIS, LDAP), backups and
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`restores, snapshot policies, and more. I’ve personally installed, configured, changed,
`
`replaced parts, and upgraded components in numerous devices including mobile
`
`devices, laptops, desktops, and servers, both physical and virtual.
`
`19. Since 1995, I have taught courses on operating systems, storage and file
`
`systems, advanced systems programming in Unix/C, systems administration, data
`
`structures, data/software security, and more. My courses often use storage, file
`
`systems, distributed systems, and system/network security as key teaching principles
`
`and practical examples for assignments and projects. I have taught these concepts
`
`and techniques to my students, both to my direct advisees as well as in my courses.
`
`For example, in my graduate Operating Systems course, I often cover Linux’s kernel
`
`mechanisms to protect users, applications, and data files, virtual file systems, as well
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`as distributed storage systems (e.g., NFS). And in the System Administration
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`undergraduate course, I covered many topics such as networking, storage, backups,
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`and configuring complex applications such as mail, web, and database servers.
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`20. My research often investigates computer systems from many angles:
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`security, efficiency, energy use, scalability, reliability, portability, survivability,
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`usability, ease-of-use, versatility, flexibility, and more. My research gives special
`
`attention to balancing five often-conflicting aspects of computer systems:
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`performance, reliability, energy use, security, and ease-of-use.
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`21. Since joining Stony Brook University in 2001, my group in the File-
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`systems and Storage Lab (“FSL”) has developed many file systems and operating
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`system extensions; examples include a highly-secure cryptographic file system, a
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`portable copy-on-write (“COW”) versioning file system, a tracing file system useful
`
`to detect intrusions, a replaying file system useful for forensics, a snapshotting and
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`sandboxing file system, a namespace unification file system (that uses stackable,
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`virtualized, file-based COW), an anti-virus file system, an integrity-checking file
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`system, a load balancing and replication/mirroring file system, network file system
`
`extensions for security and performance, distributed secure cloud-based storage
`
`systems, transactional key-value stores and file systems, OS-level embedded
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`databases, a compiler to convert user-level C code to in-kernel efficient yet safe
`
`code, GCC plugins, stackable file system templates, and a Web-based backup
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`system. Many of these projects used one form of virtualization or another (storage,
`
`network, host, etc.). I continue to maintain and release newer versions of some of
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`these file systems and software.
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`22.
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`I have published over 120 refereed publications (in ACM, IEEE,
`
`USENIX, and more). To date, my publications have been cited more than 10,000
`
`times (as per Google Scholar as of December 14, 2024). My papers cover a wide
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`range of related technologies such as file systems, storage systems, transactional
`
`systems, security, clouds and virtualization, performance benchmarking and
`
`optimization, energy efficiency, system administration, web systems, and more. I
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`also published a book titled “Linux NFS and Automounter Administration” (Sybex,
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`2001), covering systems administration topics related to network storage and data
`
`security.
`
`23. Some of my research has led to public software releases that have been
`
`used worldwide. I have publicly maintained the Amd Berkeley Automounter in a
`
`package called “am-utils” since 1992; this software helps administrators manage the
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`multitude of file system mounts on dozens of different Unix systems, especially
`
`helping to automate access to multiple NFS/NAS storage volumes. Since 1997, I
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`have maintained and released several stackable (virtualized) file system software
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`projects for Linux, FreeBSD, and/or Sun Solaris, in a package called FiST. One of
`
`my stackable file system encryption projects, called Cryptfs, became the basis for
`
`IBM’s public release of eCryptfs, now part of Linux. Packet General Networks, for
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`whom I have provided consulting services between 2009 and 2019, licensed another
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`encryption file system called Ncryptfs. Another popular file system released in
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`2003, called Unionfs, offers virtual namespace unification, transparent shadow
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`copying (a.k.a. copy-on-write or COW), file system snapshotting (e.g., useful for
`
`forensics and disaster recovery), and the ability to save disk space by sharing a read-
`
`only copy of data among several computers, among other features.
`
`24. My research and teaching make extensive use of data security features.
`
`For example, each time I taught the graduate operating system course, the first
`
`homework assignment includes the creation of a new system call that performs new
`
`or added functionality, often for encrypting a file or verifying its integrity; many of
`
`my other assignments cover topics of user/process access control, anti-virus filtering,
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`and more. Since 2001, over 1,000 graduate students were exposed to these principles
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`directly through my teaching and research at Stony Brook University.
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`25. Moreover, in an undergraduate course titled “Advanced Systems
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`Programming in Unix/C,” I cover many topics of system security and vulnerabilities,
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`such as the structure of UNIX processes, and memory segments such as the heap and
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`stack. This course covers details of several hundred Linux system calls. Often, the
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`first assignment for this course is to develop a tool to encrypt/decrypt files using
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`advanced ciphers, use digital signatures to certify the cipher keys used, and reliably
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`recover files in case of failures. Since 2001, several hundred undergraduate students
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`were exposed to these principles directly through my teaching and research at Stony
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`Brook University.
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`Inter Partes Review of U.S. 7,181,743
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`26.
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`In another undergraduate course, System Administration, I taught
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`network configuration, security, and storage configuration and reliability. In a
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`special topics course on Storage Systems, I covered many topics such as data
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`deduplication, RAID, transactional storage, storage hardware including modern
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`Flash based ones, virtual storage, backup/restore, snapshots and continuous data
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`protection (“CDP”), NAS and SAN, and NFS.
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`27. Overall, in addition to the aforementioned experience, my technical
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`experience relevant to the ’743 patent at the time of the alleged invention included
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`the configuration, use, research, development, and/or programming of the following
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`technologies and systems: distributed storage systems; Web-server load balancing
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`(e.g., Web farms); tracing, logging, event collection, and analysis; and quality-of-
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`service software development. For example, in my work for a startup called
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`HydraWEB, I’ve developed agents to monitor the load on hosts, then report it to a
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`centralized load-balancer that monitored which Web servers were down or
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`under/overloaded, and appropriately redirect Web requests. In another example, my
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`Master’s thesis, titled “Discovery and Hot Replacement of Replicated Read-Only
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`File Systems, with Application to Mobile Computing,” investigated techniques for
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`mobile devices to discover resources in a distributed setting, then transparently
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`switch to using the one closest and least loaded.
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`Zadok Declaration
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`Inter Partes Review of U.S. 7,181,743
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`28. My research has been supported by many federal and state grants as
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`well as industry awards, including an NSF CAREER award, two IBM Faculty
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`awards, two NetApp Faculty awards, a Western Digital award, a Facebook award,
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`several Dell-EMC awards, and several equipment gifts. I received the 2008 SUNY
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`Chancellor’s Excellence in Teaching award, and the 2022 SUNY Chancellor’s
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`Award for Excellence in Scholarship and Creative Activities (both awards can be
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`given only once in a lifetime). In 2021, I was named an ACM Distinguished Member
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`for “Outstanding Scientific Contributions to Computing.”
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`29. My service record to the community includes serving as the co-chair
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`for the USENIX Annual Technical Conference in 2020 (ATC’20); serving as the co-
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`chair for USENIX File and Storage Technologies (FAST’15) in 2015 and on the
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`FAST Conference Steering Committee from 2015 to 2023; serving on the ACM
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`HotStorage Steering Committee since 2021; and serving as the co-chair in 2012 and
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`on the Steering Committee of the ACM SYSTOR conference since 2012. I have
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`served as an Associate Editor to the ACM Transactions on Storage (“TOS”) journal
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`from 2009 to 2022; in 2022, I was named the Editor-in-Chief for ACM’s TOS
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`journal.
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`30.
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`I am a named inventor on four patents, two titled “Systems and Methods
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`for Detection of New Malicious Executables” (U.S. Patent No. 7,487,544, issued
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`February 3, 2009; and U.S. Patent No. 7,979,907, issued July 12, 2011); and two
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`more titled “Multi-Tier Caching,” (U.S. Patent No. 9,355,109, issued May 31, 2016;
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`Inter Partes Review of U.S. 7,181,743
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`and U.S. Patent 9,959,279, issued May 1, 2018).
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`31.
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`I have been disclosed as a testifying expert in 21 cases (including inter
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`partes review (“IPR”) proceedings) in the past four years. I have been deposed 13
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`times and testified in trial twice.
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`III. LEVEL OF ORDINARY SKILL IN THE ART
`32.
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`I understand there are multiple factors relevant to determining the level
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`of ordinary skill in the pertinent art, including (1) the levels of education and
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`experience of persons working in the field at the time of the invention; (2) the
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`sophistication of the technology; (3) the types of problems encountered in the field;
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`and (4) the prior art solutions to those problems.
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`33.
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` It is my understanding that the earliest possible priority date for the
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`’743 patent is May 25, 2000. A person of ordinary skill in the art (“POSITA”) in
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`the field of the ’743 patent, as of May 25, 2000, would have been someone
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`knowledgeable and familiar with the areas of networking and distributed computing
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`that are pertinent to the ’743 patent. That person would have a bachelor’s degree in
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`computer science, computer engineering, electrical engineering, or equivalent
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`training, and approximately 2-3 years of professional experience relating to
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`distributed computing. Lack of work experience can be remedied by additional
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`education, and vice versa.
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`Zadok Declaration
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`Inter Partes Review of U.S. 7,181,743
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`34. For purposes of this Declaration, in general, and unless otherwise noted,
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`my statements and opinions, such as those regarding my experience and the
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`understanding of a POSITA generally (and specifically related to the references I
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`consulted herein), reflect the knowledge that existed in the field as of the alleged
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`priority date of the ’743 patent (i.e., May 25, 2000). Unless otherwise stated, when
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`I provide my understanding and analysis below, it is consistent with the level of a
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`POSITA as of the alleged priority date of the ’743 patent.
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`IV. RELEVANT LEGAL STANDARDS
`35.
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`I am not an attorney. In preparing and expressing my opinions and
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`considering the subject matter of the ’743 patent, I am relying on certain basic legal
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`principles that counsel have explained to me. These principles are discussed below.
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`36.
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`I understand that prior art to the ’743 patent includes patents and printed
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`publications in the relevant art that predate the priority date of the alleged invention
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`recited in the ’743 patent.
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`37.
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`I have been informed that a claimed invention is unpatentable under 35
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`U.S.C. § 103 if the differences between the invention and the prior art are such that
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`the subject matter as a whole would have been obvious at the time the invention was
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`made to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the subject matter pertains.
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`I have also been informed by counsel that the obviousness analysis takes into
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`account factual inquiries including the level of ordinary skill in the art, the scope and
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`Zadok Declaration
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`content of the prior art, and the differences between the prior art and the claimed
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`Inter Partes Review of U.S. 7,181,743
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`subject matter.
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`38.
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`I have been informed by counsel that the Supreme Court has recognized
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`several rationales for combining references o