PTAB

IPR2026-00086

Samsung Electronics America Inc v. Massively Broadband LLC

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Key Events
Petition
petition

1. Case Identification

2. Patent Overview

  • Title: Collecting and Providing Access to Wireless Network Quality Information
  • Brief Description: The ’700 patent discloses methods and systems for collecting quality, performance, and location information from a plurality of mobile devices. This data is stored in a central database and made accessible to end-users, carriers, or third parties to monitor and improve wireless communication systems.

3. Grounds for Unpatentability

Ground 1: Obviousness over Daley, Aaron, and Scherzer - Claims 1-16

  • Prior Art Relied Upon: Daley (Application # 2007/0207800), Aaron (Application # 2008/0305747), and Scherzer (Application # 2008/0186882).
  • Core Argument for this Ground:
    • Prior Art Mapping: Petitioner argued that Daley disclosed a base system for remotely monitoring mobile devices by collecting diagnostic and network performance data (e.g., signal strength, roaming transitions) and storing it on a server for analysis by network operators. Petitioner contended this system is rendered obvious by incorporating the teachings of Aaron, which explicitly disclosed collecting mobile device geographic location information alongside service quality data (e.g., signal strength, dropped calls) to create quality-of-service maps. The combination is further augmented by Scherzer, which taught collecting data on wireless access point quality and location from client devices and using that data to provide ranked lists of nearby access points to users.
    • Motivation to Combine: A POSITA would combine these references to improve network problem diagnosis and remediation. Petitioner asserted it was common sense that adding geographic location information (Aaron) to Daley’s performance data would help pinpoint the source of network issues. Furthermore, collecting information about specific access points (Scherzer) would enhance Daley’s system by enabling more granular analysis and providing users with actionable information, such as recommendations for better-performing networks. This combination represented a predictable path to improving user experience and gaining a competitive advantage.
    • Expectation of Success: Petitioner argued a POSITA would have a high expectation of success. Integrating location and access point data into Daley's system involved well-known techniques, such as adding data fields to existing transmission protocols and extending relational databases with new columns or tables. The underlying technologies for determining device location (e.g., GPS, cell tower triangulation) were mature and widely implemented.

Ground 2: Obviousness over Scherzer - Claims 1-6 and 8-16

  • Prior Art Relied Upon: Scherzer (Application # 2008/0186882).

  • Core Argument for this Ground:

    • Prior Art Mapping: Petitioner asserted that Scherzer, by itself, disclosed every element of the challenged claims. Scherzer described a system where mobile devices collect quality and performance measurements (e.g., signal strength, bandwidth) for wireless access points and report this data, along with their own geographic location, to a central server. The server stores this crowdsourced information in a "radio resource database." This directly maps to the claimed method of receiving and storing mobile device location and quality/service information. Scherzer further taught using this database to provide users with geographic maps and ranked lists of nearby access points, which Petitioner mapped to the claimed step of "providing access" to the stored information.
    • Motivation to Combine (for §103 grounds): Not applicable as this ground relies on a single reference. Petitioner argued Scherzer inherently contained all necessary elements.
    • Expectation of Success (for §103 grounds): Not applicable.

  • Additional Grounds: Petitioner asserted additional obviousness challenges for claim 7 based on Scherzer in view of Chmaytelli (Application # 2006/0253453) and Scherzer in view of Sharma (Application # 2007/0213925), which introduced teachings on location-based advertising and wireless availability servers, respectively.

4. Relief Requested

  • Petitioner requests institution of an inter partes review and cancellation of claims 1-16 of the ’700 patent as unpatentable.