throbber
Case 6:22-cv-00031-ADA Document 217 Filed 12/12/23 Page 1 of 13
`
`
`IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
`FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS
`WACO DIVISION
`
`FLYPSI, INC., (D/B/A FLYP),
`
`
`










`
`
`DEFENDANT GOOGLE LLC’S REPLY IN SUPPORT OF ITS MOTION TO EXCLUDE
`OPINIONS OF MR. JUSTIN LEWIS
`
`
`
`
`v.
`
`GOOGLE LLC,
`
`CIVIL ACTION NO. 6:22-cv-00031-ADA
`
`JURY TRIAL DEMANDED
`
`Plaintiff,
`
`Defendant.
`
`
`
`

`

`Case 6:22-cv-00031-ADA Document 217 Filed 12/12/23 Page 2 of 13
`
`TABLE OF CONTENTS
`
`
`Page
`INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................. 1
`ARGUMENT ..................................................................................................................... 1
`A.
`Mr. Lewis Improperly Factors in
` in Unrelated
`Advertisement Revenue ......................................................................................... 1
`Mr. Lewis’s Apportionment Methodology Is Unfounded and Incomplete ........... 4
`1.
`Mr. Lewis’s Apportionment Steps Before and After His Flawed
`Feature Apportionment Step Render His Entire Apportionment
`Analysis Unreliable .................................................................................... 4
`Dr. Nettles Did Not Perform an Incremental Benefit Analysis ................. 6
`Google’s Criticism of Mr. Lewis’s Apportionment Methodology Is
`Not a Factual Dispute................................................................................. 8
`CONCLUSION .................................................................................................................. 8
`
`2.
`3.
`
`B.
`
`I.
`II.
`
`III.
`
`-i-
`
`

`

`Case 6:22-cv-00031-ADA Document 217 Filed 12/12/23 Page 3 of 13
`
`TABLE OF AUTHORITIES
`
`
`Page(s)
`
`Cases
`
`Ericsson v. D-Link Sys., Inc.,
`773 F.3d 1201 (Fed. Cir. 2014)..........................................................................................3, 7, 8
`
`Kewazinga Corp. v. Google LLC,
`No. 20-cv-1106-LGS, 2023 WL 6308420 (S.D.N.Y. Sept. 28, 2023) ......................................3
`
`LaserDynamics, Inc. v. Quanta Comput., Inc.,
`694 F.3d 51 (Fed. Cir. 2012)......................................................................................................3
`
`Realtime Data, LLC v. Actian Corp.,
`No. 6:15-cv-463 RWS-JDL, 2017 WL 11661896 (E.D. Tex. Mar. 24, 2017) ......................6, 7
`
`VirnetX, Inc. v. Cisco Sys., Inc.,
`767 F.3d 1308 (Fed. Cir. 2014)..................................................................................................8
`
`
`
`-ii-
`
`

`

`Case 6:22-cv-00031-ADA Document 217 Filed 12/12/23 Page 4 of 13
`
`
`I.
`
`INTRODUCTION
`
`Flyp’s damages expert, Justin Lewis, relies on irrelevant facts and deficient analysis in an
`
`effort to unfairly inflate his damages calculations against Google. First, Mr. Lewis cites to
`
`Google’s advertising revenue although he admits he knows of no connection between Google’s
`
`advertising business and the accused Google Voice product. He does so solely to augment his
`
`damages number and suggest that the augmented number is reasonable compared to Google’s
`
`advertising revenue. Second, Mr. Lewis does not apportion for the incremental benefit attributable
`
`to the Asserted Patents at his feature apportionment step. Instead, he improperly attributes the
`
`entire value of basic features such as
`
`to the Asserted Patents. Flyp
`
`claims that Google ignores Mr. Lewis’s other apportionment steps, but those steps do not remedy
`
`the faulty feature apportionment. The Court should exclude these improper opinions and any
`
`opinions stemming therefrom.
`
`II.
`
`ARGUMENT
`A. Mr. Lewis Improperly Factors in
`Advertisement Revenue
`
` in Unrelated
`
`Mr. Lewis admits that he has no evidence that Google Voice displays advertisements or
`
`generates advertising revenue, directly or indirectly. Dkt. 178-2 at 123:24–124:19. Yet, Mr. Lewis
`
`relies on Google’s advertising revenue in two ways. First, he uses it to justify a
`
`per user-month
`
`starting point in setting a royalty rate for users of the free version of Google Voice (Consumer
`
`Voice). Dkt. 154-3 at 49. Second, he uses it to justify an undefined “upward” impact on the
`
`hypothetical negotiation rate under Georgia-Pacific factor six. That analysis yields his ultimate
`
`conclusion in Georgia-Pacific factor 15 after considering three quantitative rate indicators: (1) the
`
` market approach, (2) the income analysis from Google’s perspective, (3) and the income
`
`analysis from Flyp’s perspective. Id. at 63–76, 93–96.
`
`-1-
`
`

`

`Case 6:22-cv-00031-ADA Document 217 Filed 12/12/23 Page 5 of 13
`Case 6:22-cv-00031-ADA Document 217 Filed 12/12/23 Page 5 of 13
`
`Flyp admits that Mr. Lewis uses Google’s advertising revenue to support the|| starting
`point in his Google perspective analysis. Specifically, Mr. Lewis uses hisPMstarting point fora//
`
`users of Google Voice, including both Enterprise Voice users (who pay a monthly license fee) and
`
`ConsumerVoice users (who indisputably do not pay a monthly license fee). Dkt. 154-3 at 49. Mr.
`
`Lewisjustifies the PMstarting point for ConsumerVoice users, who admittedly pay no monthly
`fe, by claiminght
`po Id. at 9-14. Flyp admits that Mr. Lewis relies on this argumentto justify the
`MMstarting point for Consumer Voice. Opp. at 7. But, Flyp and Mr. Lewis have noevidence to
`
`support Mr. Lewis’s asserted connection between Google’s advertising revenue and Google Voice.
`
`Flyp had months of discovery to identify any financial and other benefits Google derives
`
`from Google Voice, yet Mr. Lewis relies on nothing more than speculation to link Google Voice
`
`to any Google advertising revenue. Flyp citesPe
`
`BEE0) 15 (bs. 178.5), Bo, isdoc
`
`also Ex. 16 at 38:12—40:12i. Noneof the documents Flyp cites show
`
`any connection between Google Voice and advertising revenue (or any other indirect revenue
`
`source). And Mr. Lewis admits that he finds no evidence of any such connection in thef|
`depositions taken of Google employees, which includeda. Dkt. 154-4 at 123:21-
`
`124:19: Opp.at 5-6.!
`
`misquotes a Google document
`
`. Specifically, Flyp’s Opposition quotes the document as
`
`-2-
`
`

`

`Case 6:22-cv-00031-ADA Document 217 Filed 12/12/23 Page 6 of 13
`Case 6:22-cv-00031-ADA Document 217 Filed 12/12/23 Page 6 of 13
`
`Flyp’s efforts to distinguish Kewazinga Corp. v. Google LLC, No. 20-cv-1106-LGS, 2023
`
`WL 6308420 (S.D.N.Y. Sept. 28, 2023) miss the mark. The issue in Kewazinga was not whether
`
`the expert’s methodology was quantitative or qualitative, or whether the methodology started with
`
`a royalty base of advertising revenue. Rather, the issue was that the damages expert “offer[ed] no
`
`basis to conclude that her methodology accurately reflect[ed] th[e] value” of the accused product
`
`to the ecosystem (and ultimately Google’s advertising revenue). Jd. at *3. Here, Mr. Lewis admits
`
`he has no evidence that Google Voice contributes to Google’s advertising revenue, and thus has
`
`no basis to include Google’s advertising revenue in his calculations. Dkt. 178-2 at 124:16—-19 (“I
`
`wasn’t able to confirm orto test for those benefits.”); see LaserDynamics, Inc. v. Quanta Comput.,
`
`Inc., 694 F.3d 51, 67 (Fed. Cir. 2012) (noting that a damages theory must be based on sound
`
`economic and factual predicates).
`
`Flyp dismisses Ericsson v. D-Link Systems, Inc., 773 F.3d 1201 (Fed. Cir. 2014), by
`
`distinguishing immaterial facts related to the admissibility of agreements. The proposition for
`
`which Google cited Ericsson remains unrefuted: a damages expert may use quantitative or
`
`qualitative methodologies, but “[t]he essential requirementis that the ultimate reasonable royalty
`
`award must be based on the incremental value that the patented invention addsto the end product.”
`
`Id. at 1226. Mr. Lewisdid not, and can not, quantify how muchadvertising revenue1s attributable
`
`to Google Voice, because the evidence establishes that there is no connection between the two.
`
`Instead, he applied an amorphous and ungrounded “upward” impact on his royalty range in
`
`Georgia-Pacific factor 6 despite having no evidence that the claimed features affect advertising
`
`revenueatall.
`
`| (Opp. at4), though the documentactually statesPe
`
`-3-
`
`

`

`Case 6:22-cv-00031-ADA Document 217 Filed 12/12/23 Page 7 of 13
`
`
`Introducing Google’s advertising revenue into the case with no connection to the accused
`
`product would skew the damages horizon and prejudice the jury by posting
`
` advertising
`
`revenue numbers with which Mr. Lewis’s ultimate damages number may superficially appear
`
`reasonable by comparison. Mr. Lewis admits that he has no evidence that Google Voice drives
`
`advertising, directly or indirectly, and his opinions related to Google’s advertising revenue should
`
`be excluded.2
`
`B. Mr. Lewis’s Apportionment Methodology Is Unfounded and Incomplete
`
`Flyp raises three arguments in an attempt to save Mr. Lewis’s flawed apportionment
`
`analysis, which applies to his income analyses from both Google’s and Flyp’s perspectives. None
`
`of these succeed.
`
`1.
`
`Mr. Lewis’s Apportionment Steps Before and After His Flawed
`Feature Apportionment Step Render His Entire Apportionment
`Analysis Unreliable
`
`Flyp distracts from Mr. Lewis’s deficient feature apportionment analysis by pointing to
`
`three other quantitative and one other qualitative apportionment steps he performed. But Mr. Lewis
`
`failed to properly apportion at a fourth quantitative step––specifically, step three of his quantitative
`
`apportionment where he allegedly apportioned for relevant calling features. Mr. Lewis’s other
`
`apportionment steps cannot remedy this failure.
`
`Flyp does not dispute that step three of Mr. Lewis’s quantitative apportionment analysis
`
`merely identifies
`
` supposedly relevant calling features out of
`
` alleged total features in
`
`
`2 Flyp claims that Mr. Lewis “does not incorporate any advertising revenue into his royalty base
`or royalty range.” Opp. at 1. Yet, Flyp admits that Mr. Lewis relies on advertising revenue to
`support his (1)
`starting point for his Google’s perspective income approach (Opp. at 7), and
`(2) ultimate royalty range when considering his three quantitative rate indicators in Georgia-
`Pacific factor 15 (Opp. at 6). If Mr. Lewis’s opinions do not rely on Google’s advertising business,
`as Flyp contends, then any discussion of Google’s advertising business or revenue should be
`excluded from presentation at trial.
`
`-4-
`
`

`

`Case 6:22-cv-00031-ADA Document 217 Filed 12/12/23 Page 8 of 13
`Case 6:22-cv-00031-ADA Document 217 Filed 12/12/23 Page 8 of 13
`ee
`
`Google Voice, and then simply dividesP| to arrive at an apportionmentofBRopp. at
`
`a. Nor does Flyp dispute that at step three, Mr. Lewis ascribes 100% of the value from
`each of the || supposedly relevant calling features to the Asserted Patents. But Flyp cannot
`
`justify ascribing 100% ofthe value of those features to the Asserted Patents when even Mr. Lewis
`
`admits that many of them existed in prior, unaccused versions of Google Voice. Dkt. 154-4 at
`
`152:3-11.
`
`Flyp asks the Court to ignore Mr. Lewis’s fundamental failure at step three on the basis
`
`that he performed other apportionment steps. But the other apportionment steps address separate
`
`and distinct apportionment problems and cannot correct for his error at step three with respect to
`
`thefj features. As Flyp acknowledges, Mr. Lewis’s step one apportions for SMStext messaging
`
`unrelated to the Asserted Patents (which relate to calling), and his step two apportions for costs
`
`unrelated to the Asserted Patents. Opp. at 9. Neither of these steps addresses incremental value
`
`addedby the Asserted Patents to| supposedly relevantcalling features.
`Flyp characterizes Mr. Lewis’s step four as an additional apportionmentrelated to thefll
`features, but step four does not address the incremental value added to the a features by the
`Asserted Patents. Instead, that step is based onee
`
`Exhibit 4.0.2; Dkt. 178-8 at 5829. OfMMthat Mr. Lewis sums to reach his
`
`ES 0.3 ved in sep vecTT
`BEES5050002
`ee whichhas no connection with the ma features
`
`

`

`Case 6:22-cv-00031-ADA Document 217 Filed 12/12/23 Page 9 of 13
`
`
`relied on in step three. Dkt. 154-3 at 55; Dkt. 178-8 at 5829. Ultimately, Mr. Lewis uses
`
`
`
`at step four to weigh the value of desired feature improvements, but his analysis does not determine
`
`the incremental value added to the
`
` features by the Asserted Patents.
`
`Mr. Lewis’s funnel approach to apportionment as depicted in his Exhibit 4.0 clearly
`
`demonstrates how each of his four quantitative apportionment steps directly rely on each other,
`
`and that error in one step necessarily affects each step after it, including the final result. Flyp admits
`
`that Mr. Lewis starts with a “Value per User Month” of
`
` and reduces that
`
` by a percentage
`
`allegedly attributable to the Asserted Patents at each apportionment step. Applying a flawed
`
`percentage at any of those steps necessarily renders unreliable the final result of Mr. Lewis’s
`
`quantitative apportionment. As such, any qualitative analysis Mr. Lewis performs in Georgia-
`
`Pacific factors 9, 10, and 13 on this flawed quantitative output is also unreliable. Realtime Data,
`
`LLC v. Actian Corp., No. 6:15-cv-463 RWS-JDL, 2017 WL 11661896, at *4 (E.D. Tex. Mar. 24,
`
`2017) (noting that a party cannot “evade questions regarding how it calculated the ultimate value
`
`attributable to the infringing features by pointing to the [Georgia-Pacific] analysis performed by
`
`the damages expert”).
`
`2.
`
`Dr. Nettles Did Not Perform an Incremental Benefit Analysis
`
`Flyp suggests that Dr. Nettles performed the missing apportionment analysis in step three,
`
`and that Google’s dispute centers on his analysis. But this motion does not challenge the propriety
`
`of the analysis performed by Dr. Nettles or Mr. Lewis’s reliance on that analysis. Google’s
`
`complaint is that neither Mr. Lewis nor Dr. Nettles, nor any other expert properly analyzed the
`
`incremental benefit of each of the
`
` identified features attributable to the Asserted Patents.3
`
`
` features
`3 Flyp suggests that Google’s argument is merely a factual dispute over whether all
`were related to the Asserted Patents. Opp. at n. 2. Not so. This motion does not challenge the
`identification of
` features by either Dr. Nettles or Mr. Lewis. Rather, this motion challenges
`
`-6-
`
`

`

`Case 6:22-cv-00031-ADA Document 217 Filed 12/12/23 Page 10 of 13
`
`
`After Dr. Nettles informed Mr. Lewis that
`
` of
`
` features “are related to or impacted
`
`by” the Asserted Patents, Mr. Lewis was required to assess the incremental benefit of each of those
`
`features attributable to the Asserted Patents. Dkt. 154-3 at 54. But Mr. Lewis did not do so. Nor
`
`did he rely on any of Flyp’s technical experts for that analysis. In fact, Dr. Nettles admits that he
`
`did not do that analysis, so Mr. Lewis could not have relied on him. Ex. 17. at 91:4–9; id. at 235:14–
`
`20. Ultimately, Mr. Lewis’s failure to account for the incremental benefit of each of the
`
`identified features attributable to the Asserted Patents resulted in an artificially inflated
`
`
`
`
`
`apportionment of the Value per User Month at step three.
`
`Flyp’s attempts to distinguish Realtime, 2017 WL 11661896, fall flat. Contrary to Flyp’s
`
`assertion, neither Mr. Lewis nor Dr. Nettles apportioned for the incremental benefit of each of the
`
` identified features attributable to the Asserted Patents, instead dividing the entirety of the
`
`
`
`identified features by the
`
` total features, just like in Realtime. Mr. Lewis’s multiple
`
`apportionment steps cannot remedy his complete failure to apportion for the incremental benefit
`
`as required by Realtime and Federal Circuit precedent, including Ericsson, 773 F.3d at 1226.
`
`Moreover, Dr. Nettles admits that nearly all of the
`
` features are also present in
`
`unaccused Google Voice functionality. Dr. Nettles opines that
`
`
`
`. Dkt. 178-10 ¶ 78; Ex. 17 at 114:4–10. Yet, Dr. Nettles
`
`admits that
`
` Ex. 17. at 216:2–217:16 (
`
`
`
`
`
`),
`
`
`Mr. Lewis’s failure to consider the incremental benefit of those
`Asserted Patents.
`
` features attributable to the
`
`-7-
`
`

`

`Case 6:22-cv-00031-ADA Document 217 Filed 12/12/23 Page 11 of 13
`
`
`237:25–239:5 (
`
`). Thus, the entire value of
`
`these features cannot properly be ascribed to the Asserted Patents.
`
`3.
`
`Google’s Criticism of Mr. Lewis’s Apportionment Methodology Is Not
`a Factual Dispute
`
`Finally, Flyp contends that Google is merely raising a factual dispute about the changes
`
`made to Google Voice after the priority date of the Asserted Patents. But any such factual dispute
`
`has no effect on Mr. Lewis’s duty to properly apportion. Regardless of whether Google Voice
`
`changed after the priority date (it did not), these
`
` features have been in Google Voice since
`
`before the priority date of the Asserted Patents. Mot. at 10–13. Federal Circuit precedent thus
`
`requires Mr. Lewis to assess the incremental benefit attributable to the Asserted Patents for each
`
`of the
`
` preexisting and unaccused features. Ericsson, 773 F.3d at 1226 (citing VirnetX, Inc. v.
`
`Cisco Sys., Inc., 767 F.3d 1308, 1326 (Fed. Cir. 2014)).
`
`Flyp admits that Mr. Lewis used the same flawed apportionment analysis related to his
`
`Flyp perspective as he did for his Google perspective. Mr. Lewis again took basic features that
`
`unquestionably existed in prior art systems, including Google Voice, and failed to analyze the
`
`incremental benefit attributable to the Asserted Patents in each of those features. Mot. at 14–15.
`
`Thus, Mr. Lewis’s analysis from Flyp’s perspective is unreliable for the same reasons.
`
`III. CONCLUSION
`
`The Court should strike the opinions of Mr. Lewis discussed above. Individually, these
`
`errors unjustifiably inflate his royalty ranges. Cumulatively, these flaws yield an unsupported
`
`damages demand in excess of
`
` Due to the unreliable nature of these opinions, they
`
`should be stricken.
`
`
`
`
`
`-8-
`
`

`

`Case 6:22-cv-00031-ADA Document 217 Filed 12/12/23 Page 12 of 13
`
`
`DATED: December 5, 2023
`
`
`
`
`Respectfully submitted,
`
`/s/ Robert W. Unikel
`Robert W. Unikel (Pro Hac Vice)
`robertunikel@paulhastings.com
`John A. Cotiguala (Pro Hac Vice)
`johncotiguala@paulhastings.com
`Daniel J. Blake (Pro Hac Vice)
`danielblake@paulhastings.com
`Grayson S. Cornwell (Pro Hac Vice)
`graysoncornwell@paulhastings.com
`PAUL HASTINGS LLP
`71 South Wacker Drive, Suite 4500
`Chicago, IL 60606
`Telephone: (312) 499-6000
`Facsimile: (312) 499-6100
`
`Elizabeth Brann (Pro Hac Vice)
`elizabethbrann@paulhastings.com
`Ariell N. Bratton (Pro Hac Vice)
`ariellbratton@paulhastings.com
`PAUL HASTINGS LLP
`4655 Executive Drive, Suite 350
`San Diego, CA 92121
`Telephone: (858) 458-3000
`Facsimile: (858) 458-3005
`
`Robert R. Laurenzi (Pro Hac Vice)
`robertlaurenzi@paulhastings.com
`PAUL HASTINGS LLP
`200 Park Avenue
`New York, NY 10166
`Telephone: (212) 318-6000
`Facsimile: (212) 319-4090
`
`Joshua Yin (Pro Hac Vice)
`joshuayin@paulhastings.com
`PAUL HASTINGS LLP
`1117 S. California Avenue
`Palo Alto, CA 94304
`Telephone: (650) 320-1800
`Facsimile: (650) 320-1900
`
`Dan L. Bagatell (Pro Hac Vice)
`dbagatell@perkinscoie.com
`PERKINS COIE LLP
`
`-9-
`
`

`

`Case 6:22-cv-00031-ADA Document 217 Filed 12/12/23 Page 13 of 13
`
`
`3 Weatherby Road
`Hanover, NH 03755
`Telephone: (602) 351-8250
`Facsimile: (602) 648-7150
`
`Andrew T. Dufresne (Pro Hac Vice)
`adufresne@perkinscoie.com
`PERKINS COIE LLP
`33 E. Main St. Ste. 201
`Madison, WI 53703
`Telephone: (608) 663-7460
`Facsimile: (608) 663-7499
`
`Paige Arnette Amstutz
`State Bar No.: 00796136
`pamstutz@scottdoug.com
`SCOTT, DOUGLASS & MCCONNICO, LLP
`303 Colorado Street, Suite 2400
`Austin, TX 78701
`Telephone: (512) 495-6300
`Facsimile: (512) 495-6399
`
`Attorneys for Defendant Google LLC
`
`
`CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
`
`
`
`
`I hereby certify that on the 5th day of December, 2023, a true and correct copy of the
`
`foregoing document was filed electronically with the Clerk of Court using the CM/ECF system.
`
`As of this date, all counsel of record have consented to electronic service and are being served
`
`with a copy of this document through the Court’s CM/ECF system and by email.
`
`/s/ Robert W. Unikel
`Robert W. Unikel
`
`
`
`-10-
`
`

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