`
`
`Exhibit 2002
`
`
`[this page intentionally left blank]
`
`PGR2018-00066
`Patent Owner Preliminary Response
`
`
`
`UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
`
`
`
`BEFORE THE PATENT TRIAL AND APPEAL BOARD
`
`
`
`SUPERCELL OY,
`Petitioner
`
`v.
`
`GREE, INC.,
`Patent Owner
`
`
`
`
`
`Case PGR2018-00066
`U.S. Patent No. 9,873,044
`
`
`
`
`
`DECLARATION OF DAVID CRANE
`
`
`
`
`GREE, Inc. Exhibit 2002 Page 1
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`INTRODUCTION
`
`1.
`
`I have been retained by counsel for GREE, Inc. (“Patent Owner”) as a
`
`technical expert in connection with the proceeding identified above. I submit this
`
`declaration in support of the Patent Owner’s Preliminary Response to the Petition
`
`for Post-Grant Review of U.S. Patent Number 9,873,044. I have been retained to
`
`provide a technical opinion concerning the ‘044 Patent with respect to the challenges
`
`of the Petition.
`
`2.
`
`I am being compensated at a rate of $450/hour by Patent Owner for my
`
`assistance in connection with the above-captioned Post-Grant Review proceeding,
`
`and all activities in connection with the preparation of this declaration. I have no
`
`personal stake nor interest in the outcome of the present proceeding.
`
`3.
`
`In forming my opinions stated in this declaration, I reviewed and am
`
`familiar with U.S. Patent Number 9,873,044 B2 (hereinafter “the ‘044 Patent”). I
`
`understand that Supercell Oy (“Supercell” or “Petitioner”) has requested Post-Grant
`
`Review of the ‘044 Patent in a Petition dated June 7, 2018. I have also reviewed, and
`
`am familiar with the Petition.
`
`4.
`
`Information about my education, experience, publications, and awards
`
`are provided in my CV filed as Exhibit 2003 in the subject PGR proceeding.
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`GREE, Inc. Exhibit 2002 Page 2
`
`
`
`DEFINITIONS AND STANDARDS
`
`5.
`
`I have been informed and understand that claims are construed from the
`
`perspective of a person of ordinary skill in the art (“POSITA”) at the time of the
`
`claimed invention, and that during post-grant review, claims are to be given their
`
`“broadest reasonable construction in light of the specification.” I understand that the
`
`“broadest reasonable construction,” often referred to as the “broadest reasonable
`
`interpretation” (BRI), of a claim term “must be consistent with the ordinary and
`
`customary meaning of the term (unless the term has been given a special definition
`
`in the specification), and must be consistent with the use of the claim term in the
`
`specification and drawings. Further, the broadest reasonable interpretation of the
`
`claims must be consistent with the interpretation that those skilled in the art would
`
`reach.” (MPEP § 2111.)
`
`6.
`
`I have been informed and understand that an invention is patent-eligible
`
`if it claims a new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of
`
`matter, but laws of nature, natural phenomena, and abstract ideas are not patentable.
`
`I have been informed and understand that the inquiry determinative of whether or
`
`not an invention is patent-eligible has two steps: (1) determine whether the claim is
`
`directed to a patent-ineligible abstract idea, and (2) if so, whether the elements of the
`
`claim both individually and as an ordered combination transform the nature of the
`
`claim in a patent-eligible application of the abstract idea. I have been informed and
`
`
`
`
`
`GREE, Inc. Exhibit 2002 Page 3
`
`
`
`understand that claims reciting well-understood, routine, conventional activity in the
`
`field are insufficient to render the claims patent-eligible, and the question of whether
`
`a claim element or combination of elements is well-understood, routine and
`
`conventional to a skilled artisan in the relevant field is a question of fact.
`
`7.
`
`I have also been informed that to satisfy the written description
`
`requirement, a patent specification must describe the claimed invention in sufficient
`
`detail that one skilled in the art can reasonably conclude that the inventor had
`
`possession of the claimed invention. I have been informed and understand that this
`
`test requires an objective inquiry into the four corners of the specification from the
`
`perspective of a person of ordinary skill in the art, and based on that inquiry the
`
`specification must describe an invention understandable to that skilled artisan and
`
`show that the inventor actually invented the invention claimed.
`
`8.
`
`I have been informed and understand that a claim must particularly
`
`point out and distinctly claim the subject matter. I have been informed and
`
`understand that a claim is indefinite when it contains words or phrases whose
`
`meaning is unclear. I have been informed and understand that the definiteness
`
`requirement is not a demand for unreasonable precision, and the amount of clarity
`
`that is required necessarily invokes some standard of reasonable precision in the use
`
`of language in the context of the circumstances. I have been informed and understand
`
`that whether claims are sufficiently definite is based on the perspective of one of
`
`
`
`
`
`GREE, Inc. Exhibit 2002 Page 4
`
`
`
`ordinary skill in the art in view of the entire written description and prosecution
`
`history.
`
`LEVEL OF ORDINARY SKILL IN THE ART
`
`9.
`
`I understand that U.S. patent law interprets patents from the point of
`
`view of a POSITA.
`
`10.
`
`I have been informed by counsel and I understand that the POSITA is
`
`a hypothetical person who is presumed to be familiar with the relevant scientific
`
`field and its literature at the time of the invention. This hypothetical person is also a
`
`person of ordinary creativity capable of understanding the scientific principles
`
`applicable to the pertinent field.
`
`11.
`
`In my opinion, a POSITA, with regard to the ‘044 Patent, would possess
`
`at least an associate degree in the field of computer science (or a related academic
`
`field) and at least two additional years of practical (e.g., work) experience in the field
`
`of video game technology. If the POSITA did not obtain a formal degree, then a
`
`POSITA would have at least four years of practical (e.g., work) experience in the
`
`field of video game technology, or an equivalent field of study. In addition, a
`
`POSITA would have training or familiarity with social games that allow several
`
`players to participate in the same game, and that use a community-forming network
`
`service called a social networking service.
`
`
`
`
`
`GREE, Inc. Exhibit 2002 Page 5
`
`
`
`12. Based on my educational background and work experience, I am and
`
`was familiar with the technology at issue as of the time the application leading to the
`
`‘044 Patent was filed. My educational background and experience also allow me to
`
`evaluate what knowledge a POSITA, as defined above, would have because I have
`
`worked with, and have had technical discussions with many people with similar
`
`qualifications.
`
`13.
`
`I believe I am familiar with what such a POSITA, as defined above,
`
`would understand from reading the ‘044 Patent, or other evidence included in the
`
`record of this post-grant review. In this declaration, when discussing what a
`
`document discloses or suggests, I am describing what I believe a POSITA would
`
`have understood as being disclosed or suggested by the document at the time of the
`
`invention.
`
`OPINIONS
`
`14. As an initial matter, it is desirable in the art for a social game to be
`
`configured to expand its audience by encouraging current players to invite new
`
`players to join. One method of encouragement is to offer a reward as an incentive to
`
`a current player if a player he or she invites to the game ultimately signs up and
`
`participates in the game. On the other hand, it is also known that the number of
`
`invited players who register and participate in a game, commonly known as the
`
`“conversion rate,” is very low. In a field where it is reasonable and customary for a
`
`
`
`
`
`GREE, Inc. Exhibit 2002 Page 6
`
`
`
`player to receive an incentive in return for new player registration, the ‘044 Patent
`
`discloses an alternative method for increasing the frequency of receiving an award,
`
`thus incentivizing players to send invitations.
`
`15.
`
`In said social game referral programs known in the art, it is widely
`
`prevalent for referring players to be rewarded only for “successful referrals.” A
`
`successful referral is one in which the new player becomes an active and/or paying
`
`player of the game. Rewards for successful referrals in common use in the art
`
`include:
`
`16.
`
`In the game World of Warcraft’s “Recruit a Friend” program, a player
`
`making a referral is rewarded when the referred player purchases the game and
`
`subscribes for at least a month.
`
`“If your friend purchases a full copy of World of Warcraft and
`pays for a month of subscription time, you’ll get 30 days of game
`time FREE!
`if your friend pays for two full months of game time, you’ll
`receive a choice of EPIC in-game mounts or special pets.”1
`In the game League of Legends’ “Refer-a-Friend” Program, a
`
`17.
`
`successful referral is a new player who reaches at least level 10 of the game.
`
`“... for every friend you refer who reaches level 10, you’ll earn
`1000 IP. You can refer a total of five friends, and with three
`
`
`1 http://us.battle.net/wow/en/game/recruit-a-friend/
`
`
`
`
`
`GREE, Inc. Exhibit 2002 Page 7
`
`
`
`successful referrals, you’ll unlock the Grey Warwick skin.
`Recruit five friends and you’ll unlock Medieval Twitch.”2
`In the game Destiny’s “Refer-a-Friend” program, a successful referral
`
`18.
`
`is a new player who cooperates with the referring player in-game in order to
`
`complete a certain quest.
`
`“Complete A Tale of Two Guardians to earn the following
`rewards: Elemental Infinite Edge, EV-34 Vector Infinite, Duo
`Dance, High Five, Infinite Link and Sign of the Infinite.”3
`19. Note that these cited examples represent incentive program methods
`
`that were known and customary in the art as of the time the application leading to
`
`the ‘044 Patent was filed. In each example a single action by one player (i.e.
`
`referring a friend), followed by a qualifying action by the referred player (i.e. “If
`
`your friend purchases a full copy of World of Warcraft and pays for a month of
`
`subscription time...”), resulted in an incentive awarded to the first player (“you’ll
`
`get...”; “you’ll earn...”; “you’ll unlock...”).
`
`20. Thus, it was known in the art to provide value to the referring player
`
`only upon the ultimate completion of a specific task by the player to whom the
`
`referral was sent. The ‘044 Patent identifies this as a problem to be solved: “… if
`
`
`2 https://na.leagueoflegends.com/en/news/game-updates/features/upcoming-
`changes-refer-friend
`3 https://www.primagames.com/games/destiny/tips/destiny-taken-king-how-refer-
`friend
`
`
`
`
`
`GREE, Inc. Exhibit 2002 Page 8
`
`
`
`such other players do not participate in the social game as a player, the player cannot
`
`receive an incentive.” (See ‘044 Patent at 2:23-25).
`
`21. The ‘044 Patent improved upon the known incentive process by
`
`creating sequential incentive rewards, for example to provide a first incentive reward
`
`to the referring player when the second player’s “terminal device is operated to
`
`access the landing screen”, and a second incentive reward when the second player
`
`“participates in the game and achieves a specific matter that is predetermined in the
`
`game.” (See ‘044 Patent at Claim 1).
`
`22. An exemplary third incentive is disclosed when a referred player
`
`registers with the game service (an action not necessarily required in order to play
`
`the game): “a third incentive is further given at least to the first player when the
`
`second player registers as a player of the game via the landing screen.” (See ‘044
`
`Patent at Claim 3).
`
`23. Petitioner argues that the “incentives” of the claims appear to lack the
`
`ability to motivate or encourage the player to send the invitations to other players,
`
`alleging the specification does not describe providing the player with information
`
`that they will receive an incentive for access and registration that results from the
`
`invitation. I disagree with Petitioner’s contention that “There can be no motivation
`
`or incentivizing without knowledge of the incentive process” (See Pet. at 36-37).
`
`Nor do I agree with Petitioner’s claim that “Because the player is not informed of
`
`
`
`
`
`GREE, Inc. Exhibit 2002 Page 9
`
`
`
`any potential incentive before it is given, there is no enhanced motivation to invite
`
`other players”. (Id.) In fact, a behavior can be incentivized either through promise
`
`or reward.
`
`24. A POSITA familiar with social games and social networking services
`
`would understand that while the benefit of incentive-based referral systems to the
`
`social community comes from an increased user base, the benefit to the referring
`
`player can be a function of the quality and frequency of incentive rewards provided
`
`in return for a referral. The existence of rewards for referrals will incentivize a player
`
`to participate in a social game’s referral program, but it is the frequency of rewards
`
`that provides the incentive for a player to continue to, and repeatedly participate in
`
`said referral program.
`
`25. The ‘044 Patent discloses an alternative method for increasing the
`
`frequency of receiving an award for the same effort of making a referral. A POSITA
`
`would understand how this increased reward-to-effort ratio provided by the
`
`invention would lead to the stated goal to “enhance motivation of a player to invite
`
`another player to a social game”. (See ‘044 Patent at 3:52-54).
`
`26.
`
`In social game referral programs known in the art, it is widely prevalent
`
`for incentives to be limited for each referring player. As a result, once a player
`
`reaches his referring limit (such as League of Legends’ “total of five friends” [ref
`
`above]), he or she can no longer earn incentives through referrals.
`
`
`
`
`
`GREE, Inc. Exhibit 2002 Page 10
`
`
`
`27. The ‘044 Patent discloses a method for providing continued incentive
`
`for a player to make referrals, first by defining separate and distinct incentive limits
`
`for each of the first, second, and third incentive events; and second by dynamically
`
`changing the incentive limits over predetermined time periods. “The number of
`
`times of the first to the third incentives may be limited within predetermined
`
`duration, and the limitation number of times of the incentives can be changed for
`
`every predetermined duration. […] In this way, the number of times of the incentives
`
`that can be given is limited within predetermined duration, and the limitation number
`
`of times thereof is changed for every predetermined duration whereby a
`
`predetermined event can be tied to the predetermined duration, […] Players may be
`
`informed of the number of times of incentives given or their contents by a
`
`predetermined method, whereby the players can be encouraged to transmit invitation
`
`messages.” (See ‘044 specification at 14:5-14:22)
`
`28. By applying dynamically-changing separate incentive limits to the
`
`three incentive-earning events over a predetermined duration, a player is given to
`
`understand that additional invitations may be rewarded. This process as described
`
`by the ‘044 specification can “lead to an increase in the number of invitation
`
`messages to be transmitted.” (See ‘044 specification at 14:17).
`
`29.
`
`I carefully considered all of the arguments and support in the Petition
`
`for Post-Grant Review of U.S. Patent 9,662,044 alleging that claims 1-10 lack
`
`
`
`
`
`GREE, Inc. Exhibit 2002 Page 11
`
`
`
`written description support, and I disagree with such a conclusion for the reasons
`
`stated herein.
`
`30.
`
`I disagree with the Petitioner’s allegation that the ‘044 Patent fails to
`
`provide adequate written description of enabling a first terminal device to send
`
`invitation information to a second terminal device. As shown in FIG. 5, invitations
`
`R11 and R21 sent to the second terminal devices originate from HOME SCREEN
`
`(APPLICATION) V3 of management range T1. As described in the specification,
`
`“[f]irstly player A1 operates the terminal device 2 to use the external service S1
`
`through the home screen V3 of the aforementioned game, thus transmitting an
`
`invitation message to the terminal devices 2 operated by his/her friends (players C1
`
`and D1) (R11, R21).” (See ‘044 Patent at 10:41-45). One of ordinary skill in the art
`
`would understand that the home screen element V3 serves to enable the sending of
`
`said invitation through the operation of the first terminal device.
`
`31.
`
`I disagree with the Petitioner’s allegation that the ‘044 Patent fails to
`
`provide adequate written description of detecting when the second terminal device
`
`is operated to access the landing screen. The ‘044 Patent discloses that the server
`
`device 100 performs processing functions including those operations included in the
`
`“management range T1” shown in FIG. 5. “The management range T1 refers to the
`
`range of information and processing that the provider can manage in the platform...”
`
`(See ‘044 Patent at 10:1-3). The detection of second terminal access occurs within
`
`
`
`
`
`GREE, Inc. Exhibit 2002 Page 12
`
`
`
`said “management range.” It is disclosed that the invitation to the second terminal
`
`device contains both URL information and tracking code information: “The
`
`invitation message contains URL (specific information) to specify a landing screen
`
`(page) V1 and descriptions to suggest participating in the game (solicitation
`
`information). The URL to specify V1 contains tracking code (identification
`
`information). The tracking code is provided to discriminate player A1 who operates
`
`the terminal device 2 as the origination of the URL from other players...” (See Patent
`
`‘044 at 9:37-44).
`
`32. One of ordinary skill in the art would understand that the act of clicking
`
`(See FIG. 7 step ST503) on a URL link to V1 necessarily results in the detection of
`
`access, generating a response. Further, the existence of tracking code information
`
`contained in the URL to V1 serves not only to detect access by the second terminal
`
`but to also discriminate the identity of the terminal doing the accessing. The
`
`specification goes on to provide additional details on another way in which the server
`
`is involved in said detection function, comparing the tracking code received to codes
`
`held within the server: “When a terminal device 2 receiving the invitation message
`
`accesses the landing screen VI based on the URL, the server device 100 can obtain
`
`the tracking code. This allows the server device 100 to discriminate player A1 from
`
`other players based on the tracking code held at the application of the game and
`
`tracking codes acquired based on the URL.” (See ‘044 Patent at 9:51-57). Thus, the
`
`
`
`
`
`GREE, Inc. Exhibit 2002 Page 13
`
`
`
`specification is clear on howthe server device detects access by the second terminal
`
`device.
`
`33.
`
`I disagree with the Petitioner’s allegation that the ‘044 Patent fails to
`
`provide adequate written description of giving incentives. In social gaming, players
`
`typically accumulate “virtual goods” - assets which have no real-world existence but
`
`are useful in some way within the game context. One of ordinary skill in the art
`
`would understandthat “giving an incentive” to a player would mean adding an item
`
`to that player’s inventory ofvirtual goods.
`
`34.
`
`I declare that all statements made herein of my own knowledgeare true
`
`and that all statements made on information andbelief are believed to be true and
`
`correct.
`
`Executed on: [ofpe/Zo) &
`
`
`
`David Crane
`
`GREE, Inc.
`
`Exhibit 2002
`
`Page 14
`
`
Accessing this document will incur an additional charge of $.
After purchase, you can access this document again without charge.
Accept $ Charge
Still Working On It
This document is taking longer than usual to download. This can happen if we need to contact the court directly to obtain the document and their servers are running slowly.
Give it another minute or two to complete, and then try the refresh button.
A few More Minutes ... Still Working
It can take up to 5 minutes for us to download a document if the court servers are running slowly.
Thank you for your continued patience.
This document could not be displayed.
We could not find this document within its docket. Please go back to the docket page and check the link. If that does not work, go back to the docket and refresh it to pull the newest information.
Your account does not support viewing this document.
You need a Paid Account to view this document. Click here to change your account type.
Your account does not support viewing this document.
Set your membership
status to view this document.
With a Docket Alarm membership, you'll
get a whole lot more, including:
- Up-to-date information for this case.
- Email alerts whenever there is an update.
- Full text search for other cases.
- Get email alerts whenever a new case matches your search.
One Moment Please
The filing “” is large (MB) and is being downloaded.
Please refresh this page in a few minutes to see if the filing has been downloaded. The filing will also be emailed to you when the download completes.
Your document is on its way!
If you do not receive the document in five minutes, contact support at support@docketalarm.com.
Sealed Document
We are unable to display this document, it may be under a court ordered seal.
If you have proper credentials to access the file, you may proceed directly to the court's system using your government issued username and password.
Access Government Site
