PTAB

IPR2015-00668

Fieldcomm Group v. Sipco LLC

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Petition
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1. Case Identification

2. Patent Overview

  • Title: System And Method For Monitoring And Controlling Remote Devices
  • Brief Description: The ’692 patent discloses a system for remote monitoring and control using a plurality of wireless transmitters integrated with sensors. These transmitters communicate data, including sensor readings and identification information, via low-power radio-frequency (RF) signals. The system utilizes a network of geographically dispersed transceivers that can act as repeaters to relay signals to a central gateway, which connects the remote network to a computer over a Wide Area Network (WAN).

3. Grounds for Unpatentability

Ground 1: Obviousness over Kantronics, AX.25 Protocol, and Ultrix - Claims 1-64 are obvious over Kantronics in view of AX.25 Protocol and Ultrix.

  • Prior Art Relied Upon: Kantronics (a 1998 user guide for a KPC-3 packet radio controller), AX.25 Protocol (a 1984 link-layer protocol for amateur packet radio), and Ultrix (a 1987 technical report on integrating an IP gateway with an AX.25 network).
  • Core Argument for this Ground:
    • Prior Art Mapping: Petitioner argued that the combination of these three references teaches every element of the challenged claims. Kantronics discloses the core system for remote sensing and control, such as monitoring a liquid tank, using packet radio stations. These stations include a transceiver and a Terminal Node Controller (TNC) that assembles data packets containing sensor readings and transmitter identification information. The AX.25 Protocol, which Kantronics is designed to use, explicitly defines the packet structure for these communications, including fields for source, destination, and repeater addresses, as well as the data payload ("information field"). Ultrix teaches the final piece: how to bridge this exact type of AX.25 packet radio network to an IP-based network (a WAN, like the Internet) by creating a gateway. This gateway translates information between the two networks, allowing a computer on the WAN to monitor and control the remote devices. Petitioner contended this combination discloses the claimed system of sensor-transmitters, repeater transceivers, a WAN-connected gateway, and a computer program for data collection and control.
    • Motivation to Combine (for §103 grounds): A POSITA would combine these references because they are all directed to the same technology (AX.25 packet radio networks) and are highly complementary. Kantronics provides a practical remote control application, AX.25 Protocol provides the standardized communication rules that Kantronics implements, and Ultrix provides a known and desirable method for connecting such a specialized radio network to the broader world of IP networks. The combination represents a commonsense integration of a system (Kantronics), its underlying standard (AX.25), and a known method for enhancing its connectivity (Ultrix).
    • Expectation of Success (for §103 grounds): A POSITA would have a high expectation of success in combining the references. The integration was not speculative, as Ultrix provides explicit instructions for creating a gateway to bridge an AX.25 network to an IP network. Since Kantronics operates on the AX.25 protocol, a POSITA would find it straightforward to apply the gateway teachings of Ultrix to the system of Kantronics to achieve WAN connectivity.

4. Key Claim Construction Positions

  • "low-power radio-frequency": Petitioner argued this term should be construed as "power having limited transmission range," noting its agreement with a construction adopted in a related district court litigation involving the ’692 patent. This construction was central to mapping the term to the Kantronics system, which used standard radio transceivers argued to be inherently "relatively low-power" for power conservation and localized communication.
  • "select information": Proposed construction was "data collected from another device." This broad interpretation allowed sensor readings and status reports disclosed in Kantronics to meet this limitation.
  • "transceiver": Proposed construction was "devices that transmit and/or receive data," a standard definition that encompassed the packet radio stations described in the prior art.

5. Relief Requested

  • Petitioner requests institution of an inter partes review and cancellation of claims 1-64 of Patent 6,437,692 as unpatentable under 35 U.S.C. §103.