PTAB

IPR2025-00469

WebGroup Czech Republic As v. DISH Technologies LLC

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Petition
petition

1. Case Identification

2. Patent Overview

  • Title: Apparatus, System, and Method for Multi-Bitrate Content Streaming
  • Brief Description: The ’138 patent discloses a system for adaptive multi-bitrate streaming of content over the internet. The system involves encoding a video into multiple streams of varying quality (e.g., low, medium, high), segmenting each stream into smaller files called "streamlets," and storing them on a server for a client device to request and play back, allowing the client to switch between quality levels based on network conditions.

3. Grounds for Unpatentability

Ground 1: Claims 1-12 and 14-30 are obvious over Leaning in view of Leighton.

  • Prior Art Relied Upon: Leaning (Patent 7,447,791) and Leighton (Patent 6,553,413).
  • Core Argument for this Ground:
    • Prior Art Mapping: Petitioner argued that Leaning taught the core elements of the challenged claims. Leaning disclosed an adaptive streaming system where a media file (audio or video) was encoded into multiple versions at different compression rates (e.g., low, medium, high quality). Each version was then partitioned into a sequence of smaller "sub-files" of a fixed playing duration (e.g., four seconds), analogous to the ’138 patent's "streamlets." A client player program requests these sub-files sequentially and could automatically switch between the different quality versions based on measured network data rates to ensure smooth playback. Petitioner contended that Leaning’s teaching of sub-files with the same fixed duration and temporal portion across different bitrates met key limitations of independent claim 1.
    • Motivation to Combine: Petitioner asserted that while Leaning disclosed a single web server, Leighton taught a distributed network architecture with a plurality of web servers (i.e., a content delivery network) to host and distribute content on a global scale. A POSITA would combine Leighton’s multi-server architecture with Leaning’s adaptive streaming method to improve system redundancy, reduce latency, and provide better geographic distribution for end-users, which were well-known goals in content delivery.
    • Expectation of Success: A POSITA would have a high expectation of success, as the combination merely involved storing the same sets of sub-files taught by Leaning across the multiple servers described in Leighton, a straightforward implementation.

Ground 2: Claims 9-12 and 18-20 are obvious over Leaning in view of Leighton and Reme.

  • Prior Art Relied Upon: Leaning (’791 patent), Leighton (’413 patent), and Reme (WO 2004/030310).
  • Core Argument for this Ground:
    • Prior Art Mapping: This ground was presented to supplement Ground 1, specifically addressing the limitation that at least one stream is "encoded at a bitrate of no less than 600 kbps." While arguing Leaning inherently taught this by disclosing use of standard video codecs, Petitioner asserted that Reme explicitly disclosed a quality-adaptive streaming system with multiple pre-encoded versions of video content at various bitrates, including 30 kbps, 300 kbps, and 5 Mbps. The 5 Mbps rate is substantially higher than the claimed 600 kbps threshold, directly teaching the limitation.
    • Motivation to Combine: A POSITA implementing the video streaming system of Leaning would be motivated to use the higher bitrates taught by Reme to provide a high-quality viewing experience, which was a common objective at the time. The combination would allow Leaning's system to serve a wider variety of client network conditions, from low to high bandwidth.
    • Expectation of Success: The combination would have been predictable because both Leaning and Reme addressed the same technical problem of adaptive streaming by encoding content into multiple bitrate versions.

Ground 3: Claims 9-12 and 18-20 are obvious over Leaning in view of Leighton and SMIL 2.0.

  • Prior Art Relied Upon: Leaning (’791 patent), Leighton (’413 patent), and SMIL 2.0 (Synchronized Multimedia Integration Language 2.0).
  • Core Argument for this Ground:
    • Prior Art Mapping: This ground specifically addressed the "virtual timeline" limitation found in claims 9-12 and 18-20. Petitioner argued that SMIL 2.0, a well-known XML-based language for multimedia presentations, explicitly taught this concept. SMIL 2.0 used a <seq> element to define a sequence of media elements (e.g., video files) that play one after another, creating a playlist. Petitioner contended this directly corresponded to the patent’s description of a "virtual timeline" as a file configured to define a playlist for a user.
    • Motivation to Combine: A POSITA building the streaming system of Leaning would be motivated to incorporate a standard, well-documented technology like SMIL 2.0 to control the playback and sequencing of media files. Using SMIL 2.0 would be a known and efficient way to create a schedule or playlist of content for users to view in succession, thereby improving the functionality of Leaning's system.
    • Expectation of Success: Applying a standard markup language like SMIL 2.0 to manage media playback in a client-server streaming system was a conventional and predictable task for a POSITA.

4. Arguments Regarding Discretionary Denial

  • Fintiv Factors (§314(a)): Petitioner argued against discretionary denial under Fintiv, asserting that parallel district court litigation was in its earliest stages, with no trial date set, no answer filed, and no discovery commenced. Consequently, a Final Written Decision in the IPR would issue long before any potential trial. Petitioner also contended the petition's merits were strong and raised grounds not previously considered by the USPTO, weighing heavily in favor of institution.
  • Advanced Bionics (§325(d)): Petitioner argued denial was not warranted because the specific grounds, relying on the combinations of Leaning, Leighton, Reme, and SMIL 2.0, were never presented to or considered by the Examiner during prosecution. The primary references were not cited on the face of the ’138 patent, and their specific teachings were not substantively addressed, meaning the Office had not previously been presented with the same arguments.

5. Relief Requested

  • Petitioner requests institution of inter partes review and cancellation of claims 1-12 and 14-30 of the ’138 patent as unpatentable.