PTAB

IPR2017-01179

Duodecad It Services Luxembourg Sa RL v. WAG Acquisition LLC

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Petition
petition

1. Case Identification

2. Patent Overview

  • Title: Streaming Media Delivery System
  • Brief Description: The ’839 patent discloses methods and systems for sending streaming media, such as audio or video, from a server to a user computer over the Internet. The invention purports to solve issues of network latency and playback interruptions ("dropouts") by initially sending data at a rate more rapid than the playback rate to quickly fill a user-side buffer, allowing playback to begin while the buffer continues to fill.

3. Grounds for Unpatentability

Ground 1: Obviousness over Chen and its Prosecution History - Claims 2, 9, and 16 are obvious over Chen in view of the Chen File History.

  • Prior Art Relied Upon: Chen (Patent 5,822,524) and Chen File History (the prosecution history of the Chen patent).

  • Core Argument for this Ground:

    • Prior Art Mapping: Petitioner argued that the combination of Chen and its file history discloses every element of the challenged claims. Chen teaches a client-server system for streaming multimedia files that uses different transmission modes based on the fullness of a client-side buffer, which is monitored using "water marks." Chen explicitly discloses a "NORMAL" mode for transmitting at the playback rate and a "RUSH" mode for transmitting at an increased rate when the client buffer level falls below a low water mark. This RUSH mode corresponds to the '839 patent's limitation of sending data "more rapid than the playback rate."

    While Chen itself suggests RUSH mode is used when the buffer is low, the Chen File History—which documents the reduction to practice of the Chen invention (the "QVS server")—explicitly discloses initiating transmission in RUSH mode. A document within the file history states that upon a client request to "Open File," the server's instructions are to "Read data from disk and rush them to [Client Agent]." Because a new stream begins with an empty client buffer, this is equivalent to the buffer level being below the low water mark, triggering the RUSH mode from the outset. Petitioner asserted this combination directly teaches the core concept of the '839 patent: initiating a stream at a rate faster than the playback rate. The combination also teaches detecting interruptions (lost packets via sequence numbers) and responding by increasing the data rate (switching to RUSH mode), which addresses the limitations of the challenged dependent claims.

    • Motivation to Combine: A POSITA would combine Chen with its own File History because the File History documents the commercial embodiment and reduction to practice of the Chen invention. The File History provides concrete implementation details for the system described conceptually in the Chen patent. Therefore, a POSITA seeking to implement the Chen system would have naturally looked to its prosecution history for guidance, making the combination a matter of applying known information from a related source to the primary reference.
    • Expectation of Success: A POSITA would have had a very high expectation of success in combining these references. Since the Chen File History describes the successful implementation of the very system disclosed in the Chen patent, combining their teachings would be expected to yield a predictable and functional streaming system.

4. Key Claim Construction Positions

  • Petitioner asserted that the challenged claims are invalid under either their plain and ordinary meaning or under the constructions adopted by the Board in a prior inter partes review (IPR) involving the same patent (IPR2015-01036).
  • Key constructions from the prior IPR relied upon by Petitioner include:
    • “playback rate”: “a data rate for which the data is encoded to be played out”
    • “sending... at a sending rate more rapid than the playback rate”: “at least some of the unsent data in the server buffer is sent at a sending rate more rapid than the playback rate”
    • “sufficient for the user system to begin playing back... while the user buffer continues to fill”: “enough data is initially sent fast enough so that the player can at least start playback while its buffer continues to fill”
  • Petitioner argued these constructions confirm that the "RUSH" mode disclosed in Chen and its File History, which transmits data "as fast as possible," meets the key claim limitations related to transmitting data faster than the playback rate.

5. Relief Requested

  • Petitioner requests that trial be instituted and that claims 2, 9, and 16 of the ’839 patent be canceled as unpatentable under 35 U.S.C. §103.