PTAB

IPR2013-00456

Zerto Inc v. EMC Israel Development Center Ltd

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1. Case Identification

2. Patent Overview

  • Title: Methods and Apparatus for Optimal Journaling for Continuous Data Replication
  • Brief Description: The ’287 patent discloses methods for continuous data replication in computer file systems. The technology involves receiving a write transaction from a production site, which includes raw data and associated metadata (e.g., size and start address), and then separating this information into two distinct streams for storage in a journal: a "journal data stream" for the raw data and a "journal meta-data stream" for the corresponding metadata.

3. Grounds for Unpatentability

Ground 1: Obviousness over Yamagami in view of Amano - Claims 1-3 and 8-10 are obvious over Yamagami in view of Amano.

  • Prior Art Relied Upon: Yamagami (Application # 2005/0033827) and Amano (Application # 2005/0028022).
  • Core Argument for this Ground:
    • Prior Art Mapping: Petitioner argued that Yamagami, a system for remote data copying, discloses nearly all elements of the challenged claims. Yamagami teaches a journaling system that receives write requests and stores the corresponding data and control information in separate areas, analogous to the claimed "journal data stream" and "journal meta-data stream." However, Petitioner contended Yamagami fails to teach the "rollback" capability required by the correct construction of the term "first journal." Amano was asserted to supply this missing element, as it explicitly discloses a journaling system that records original data in "BEFORE journal" entries specifically to enable the restoration of a storage volume to a previous point in time.
    • Motivation to Combine: A POSITA would combine Yamagami and Amano because both references address the same field of data replication and backup. Amano’s "rollback" or "undo" functionality was presented as a known technique to improve data recovery, a recognized goal in the art that Yamagami also addresses. A POSITA would have found it advantageous to incorporate Amano's established rollback method into Yamagami's data replication framework to enhance its data protection capabilities.
    • Expectation of Success: Petitioner asserted a high expectation of success because the journal structures in Yamagami and Amano are highly analogous. Integrating Amano’s technique for recording pre-write data to enable rollbacks into Yamagami's similar journaling system would have been a predictable modification for a POSITA, representing a simple engineering choice rather than an inventive step.

Ground 2: Anticipation over Yamagami - Claims 1-3 and 8-10 are anticipated by Yamagami.

  • Prior Art Relied Upon: Yamagami (Application # 2005/0033827).
  • Core Argument for this Ground:
    • Prior Art Mapping: This ground was presented as an alternative argument, contingent on the Patent Owner successfully arguing for a narrower construction of "first journal" that does not require a "rollback" capability. Under such a construction, Petitioner argued that Yamagami alone discloses every limitation of the challenged claims. Yamagami's system receives write data from a host system (the "production site") containing raw data and associated control information (size, address). This information is then copied into a journal volume (JNL) that is explicitly divided into a "journal data area" (the claimed "first journal data stream") and a "control data area" (the claimed "first journal meta-data stream"), thereby anticipating the claims.

4. Key Claim Construction Positions

  • "first journal": This term was central to Petitioner's arguments. Petitioner proposed that the broadest reasonable construction, based on the patent's specification, requires the "first journal" to possess the ability to "rollback the duplicate storage system to a previous point in time."
    • This construction is critical because it creates the basis for the obviousness argument in Ground 1. Yamagami's system lacks this specific rollback feature, necessitating the combination with Amano, which explicitly teaches it.
    • Petitioner presented Ground 2 (Anticipation by Yamagami) as a fallback position in the event that the Board adopted a narrower construction of "first journal" that did not include the rollback requirement.

5. Relief Requested

  • Petitioner requests institution of an inter partes review and cancellation of claims 1-3 and 8-10 of Patent 7,516,287 as unpatentable.