[00:00:00] Speaker 01: The case that we're hearing now remotely is number 20-1894, Inray-Harrow Wireless Essay. [00:00:07] Speaker 01: And Mr. Devlin, please proceed. [00:00:11] Speaker 00: Thank you, may it please the court. [00:00:13] Speaker 00: Your Honor, my understanding is I will just go for the 15 minutes or so, and that's the end of it, because there's no opposing counsel arguing today. [00:00:20] Speaker 00: But let me know if that's somehow mistaken. [00:00:25] Speaker 00: May it please the court again. [00:00:26] Speaker 00: The issue here with this sheet, so this case involves patent that relates to reception operations in mobile communications and how those are governed in a system that has a couple of different variations going on. [00:00:40] Speaker 00: One is base stations that can either transmit directionally, that is in sort of a spatial multiplexing manner, or not. [00:00:50] Speaker 00: So they cannot transmit in that manner. [00:00:54] Speaker 00: And then there's different types of terminals. [00:00:56] Speaker 00: some of which are operable using adaptive array processing, which is directional, others of which are not, some of which have multiple antennas and some not. [00:01:08] Speaker 00: So if it has multiple antennas, generally, you can perform a diversity reception or you can perform adaptive array reception. [00:01:16] Speaker 00: If you only have a single antenna, those things are restricted out. [00:01:20] Speaker 00: So those are the variations of things that are going on in the system. [00:01:24] Speaker 00: The patent claim here [00:01:25] Speaker 00: We're really talking about one particular claim element, and it requires two separate things. [00:01:31] Speaker 00: One is a single bit that has two values, of course, and that bit, each of the values is associated with an instruction to perform a certain type of reception operation. [00:01:45] Speaker 00: And then, or each is associated with a particular reception operation, and then one of them at least instructs the terminals to do that. [00:01:53] Speaker 00: But each of the values of the bit [00:01:56] Speaker 00: has to be associated with a given reception operation. [00:02:02] Speaker 02: Can I ask, your claim language seems to be a little broader than that. [00:02:08] Speaker 02: But I think you're going to get into that claim construction. [00:02:12] Speaker 02: But the claim says first and second bid values that specify first and second reception operations. [00:02:21] Speaker 02: That's a little bit broader than saying it has to identify a specific technique, it seems to me. [00:02:31] Speaker 00: I think the word respectively on the end of that clause or phrase does suggest that there's a first bit value, and that's associated with a first reception operation. [00:02:42] Speaker 00: And then there's a second bit value that's associated with a second operation. [00:02:46] Speaker 02: Why couldn't the operation be the first bit value is don't use diversity, and the second bit value is you could use diversity? [00:02:54] Speaker 02: Why isn't that specific enough given the breadth of the claim language? [00:02:58] Speaker 00: Because not using diversity does not specify a reception operation. [00:03:02] Speaker 00: It just specifies what not to do. [00:03:05] Speaker 00: And the argument here that I think we're getting from the petitioner, the appellee here, was that there are certain embodiments of a sheeta [00:03:13] Speaker 00: that even though Ashida does not expressly do what the claim requires, and I'll get to that in a minute, Your Honor, the embodiments, or at least one embodiment of Ashida, essentially collapses to what the claim requires. [00:03:25] Speaker 00: And let me specify particularly what I mean. [00:03:27] Speaker 00: Let me start at the start, which is what Ashida does not connote. [00:03:31] Speaker 00: So paragraph 68 of Ashida, and Your Honor, as I'm looking at my materials here, so I hope it's sometimes I've got it face downward, [00:03:39] Speaker 00: Paragraph 68 of a sheet of specifies. [00:03:42] Speaker 02: This is the JA page 477. [00:03:44] Speaker 02: Thank you, Your Honor. [00:03:47] Speaker 00: Yes. [00:03:48] Speaker 00: Appendix 477, paragraph 68. [00:03:52] Speaker 00: It identifies the T flag, which is the bit that Appellee has pointed to, the petitioner here. [00:04:02] Speaker 00: And it clearly specifies what that bit conducts. [00:04:08] Speaker 00: For one value, when the bit is a 1 or a 0. [00:04:11] Speaker 00: So when it's a 1, the D-flag indicates a diversity reception stop instruction, which is what Your Honor just referenced. [00:04:21] Speaker 00: And that's one item. [00:04:23] Speaker 00: And then the other value, 0, indicates that diversity reception is possible. [00:04:30] Speaker 00: And then it goes on to say that either diversity reception [00:04:35] Speaker 00: or reception using one antenna is possible. [00:04:38] Speaker 00: So Ashita itself says that one of the values of the bit that it's talking about is actually associated simply with a possibility. [00:04:49] Speaker 00: And that possibility could include choosing to use diversity reception or not. [00:04:56] Speaker 00: And so there, I think that alone gets us to the point where Ashita is not doing, at least on its face, [00:05:03] Speaker 00: what the claim requires, that second value. [00:05:06] Speaker 00: And Your Honor, with the first value, I would reiterate what I said before. [00:05:10] Speaker 00: Saying stop and do one thing doesn't specify doing anything else necessarily, like on its face. [00:05:17] Speaker 00: Again, the argument we're getting from the petitioner or the appellee here is that the argument before accepted, really, was that first embodiment that essentially collapsed. [00:05:27] Speaker 02: Yes. [00:05:29] Speaker 02: I just wanted to ask, I hear your argument. [00:05:31] Speaker 02: I do. [00:05:31] Speaker 02: I understand what you're saying. [00:05:33] Speaker 02: But I think that what was found for claim construction was that your [00:05:38] Speaker 02: that first and second reception operations doesn't have to be narrowly confined to a specific technique like diversity only. [00:05:48] Speaker 02: And I believe you have an embodiment, maybe it's in figure 15, in which there's two possibilities. [00:05:57] Speaker 02: So why is that claim construction wrong? [00:05:59] Speaker 02: It sounds like you are seeking a much more narrow construction of reception operations. [00:06:06] Speaker 00: And that's a good example. [00:06:08] Speaker 00: The term reception operation itself, I don't think was really the focus of construction. [00:06:17] Speaker 00: But I think each of these patents talks about a reception operation as being something specific, at least. [00:06:23] Speaker 00: So in the patent, there are examples of reception operations. [00:06:26] Speaker 00: One is adaptive array, and the other is diversity. [00:06:30] Speaker 00: And then there's a third that could be, which really is best described as neither. [00:06:35] Speaker 00: That is, it's using a single antenna, but without adaptive array. [00:06:39] Speaker 00: And that's the figure 15 embodiment that Your Honor just mentioned. [00:06:43] Speaker 00: And I can drill down on that in a second. [00:06:47] Speaker 00: But to say that simply doing a variety of things is a reception operation, without defining the words, without adding the word unique, without adding any other. [00:07:01] Speaker 02: But it seems like you're saying it one bit means [00:07:05] Speaker 02: a reception operation, it might mean that it means either use this reception operation or that operation. [00:07:12] Speaker 02: I mean, I guess your view is that it has to be a single reception operation. [00:07:17] Speaker 02: Is that your view? [00:07:18] Speaker 00: It has to be a reception operation. [00:07:19] Speaker 00: That's exactly what the claim says, that you have two different reception operations, and they are each associated respectively with one of the two bit values. [00:07:31] Speaker 02: And how do you distinguish figure 15, which has an either or reception operation? [00:07:37] Speaker 00: So figure 15 does not have an either or reception operation, so I may, Your Honor, respectfully. [00:07:40] Speaker 00: So figure 15 is looking at an example of the patent where the implementation happens to involve, not the implementation, to be clear. [00:07:51] Speaker 00: Whenever we talk about a base station, there can be multiple terminals that are connected, you know, associated with exchanging information with that base station. [00:08:01] Speaker 00: Figure 15 is talking about a single example of what might happen. [00:08:05] Speaker 00: Figure 15 is about a terminal that can use diversity, but is unable. [00:08:13] Speaker 00: It simply doesn't have the programming to do adaptive array. [00:08:18] Speaker 00: And so in that instance, and this is a really important example, Your Honor, in that instance, the instruction from [00:08:29] Speaker 00: the base station to use adaptive array. [00:08:32] Speaker 00: That's what's happening in figure 15, is the base station has sent an instruction that says, use adaptive array. [00:08:37] Speaker 00: And the terminal is simply incapable of doing that. [00:08:41] Speaker 00: It doesn't have that functionality, period. [00:08:44] Speaker 00: And so what happens? [00:08:46] Speaker 00: And so in that instance, the patent suggests, hey, you can at least do one thing, which is the terminal can then say, oh, OK, I can't do what I'm instructed to do, but I can at least [00:08:57] Speaker 00: pick one of my antennas to which I'm going to use to send and receive. [00:09:02] Speaker 00: And that's what's happening in Figure 15. [00:09:05] Speaker 00: What Figure 15 does not distinguish or does not prevent or negate, and in fact, I'd say it includes, is that at the same time, there are other terminals connected to that same base station or connecting to that same base station that do have the capacity to use adaptive array processing. [00:09:26] Speaker 00: And for those, they receive that. [00:09:28] Speaker 02: Can I just clarify? [00:09:30] Speaker 02: Yes. [00:09:30] Speaker 02: Sometimes that bit, which is either a 1 or a 0, is going to be interpreted as saying, do adaptive array reception. [00:09:38] Speaker 02: And other times, it's going to be interpreted as meaning do single antenna reception, because you don't know how to do adaptive array reception. [00:09:48] Speaker 00: I don't know if interpret is the right word. [00:09:50] Speaker 00: I think in each case, it would be interpreted as do adaptive array. [00:09:56] Speaker 00: That's what the terminal's going to see. [00:09:58] Speaker 00: Terminal's not going to be able to do adaptive array. [00:10:00] Speaker 00: It's going to do something different as a result. [00:10:04] Speaker 00: And something different in the example of figure 15 in the single terminal that's being discussed in the example of figure 15 is just use one of your antennas and a particular one that happened to submit your last uplink. [00:10:21] Speaker 00: Use that. [00:10:22] Speaker 00: That's all figure 15 is saying. [00:10:24] Speaker 00: But figure 15 is not precluding [00:10:28] Speaker 00: other terminals associated with the base station from doing adaptive array. [00:10:33] Speaker 00: And that's actually a critical fact here. [00:10:36] Speaker 00: There are claims of this patent that have to do with terminal side processing. [00:10:41] Speaker 00: Claims here are not those. [00:10:43] Speaker 00: The two claims here, the two independent claims here, both involve what is going on at the base station and what is sent out by the base station. [00:10:53] Speaker 00: And in each case, what the base station is sending out is an instruction to do something. [00:10:59] Speaker 00: And a bit that has two values, each of those values is associated with a specific reception operation. [00:11:07] Speaker 00: That's what's going on in that example 15. [00:11:10] Speaker 00: It just so happens that the patent, the inventors thought about this and said, well, look, sometimes our instruction is not going to be able to be followed. [00:11:19] Speaker 00: What could a terminal do then? [00:11:20] Speaker 00: But that doesn't change the nature of what we said. [00:11:23] Speaker 02: I just want to know, can you remind me, is this a broadest reasonable interpretation question? [00:11:28] Speaker 00: It is, Your Honor. [00:11:29] Speaker 00: Yes. [00:11:30] Speaker 00: Yes. [00:11:31] Speaker 00: Broadest reasonable interpretation. [00:11:33] Speaker 00: But the question is, what is the interpretation of a reception operation? [00:11:37] Speaker 00: No one has argued. [00:11:39] Speaker 00: Intel has not made this argument, to my recollection. [00:11:42] Speaker 00: They haven't made the argument that simply doing a variety of things is a reception operation. [00:11:51] Speaker 00: Instead, the argument that came through Ashita was that there are certain embodiments of Ashita, because the terminal is limited in certain ways, or because the whole system is limited in certain ways, that they collapse to what actually the claim requires. [00:12:07] Speaker 00: But that's never the case. [00:12:09] Speaker 00: Ashita never says what happens when you turn diversity off. [00:12:15] Speaker 00: It just doesn't say it. [00:12:17] Speaker 00: You could use a single antenna. [00:12:18] Speaker 00: But the single antenna could do adaptive array, or it can simply be a single antenna operating without adaptive array. [00:12:26] Speaker 02: Would you agree that the board's statement at JA22 that Ashita describes two reception operations that relate to the D flag, diversity reception and one antenna reception, we would review that for substantial evidence, right? [00:12:40] Speaker 02: That's not a legal question. [00:12:48] Speaker 00: I'm trying to think if that's a claim construction issue, Your Honor, or not. [00:12:52] Speaker 02: It's saying what Ashida teaches. [00:12:54] Speaker 00: Yes, Your Honor. [00:12:55] Speaker 00: I agree with you. [00:12:56] Speaker 00: That's right. [00:12:57] Speaker 00: And so in that standard, though, and I'm looking for Your Honor's quote. [00:13:02] Speaker 00: It said two reception operations. [00:13:04] Speaker 00: One is diversity and one is single antenna. [00:13:06] Speaker 00: But that's actually not what Ashida's flag ever says. [00:13:10] Speaker 00: It doesn't say do diversity. [00:13:11] Speaker 00: Neither of the bit values says diversity. [00:13:14] Speaker 00: One says don't do diversity. [00:13:17] Speaker 00: That's one value. [00:13:18] Speaker 00: And this is all straight from paragraph 68, appendix 477. [00:13:22] Speaker 00: This is a sheeta. [00:13:25] Speaker 00: One bit value says, don't do diversity. [00:13:27] Speaker 00: The other bit value says, hey, diversity is possible. [00:13:32] Speaker 00: And then it continues to say, under that bit value, you can do diversity or you can do single antenna. [00:13:38] Speaker 00: So even if one were to interpret single antenna as a reception operation, a sheeta is not associating [00:13:47] Speaker 00: It's bit values with one or the other of those. [00:13:50] Speaker 00: The board's reading is just flatly wrong. [00:13:52] Speaker 00: The second of those two values, the zero, and this is lines, oh, well, there's no lines. [00:13:59] Speaker 00: The last sentence of paragraph 68, really the last clause. [00:14:02] Speaker 00: The zero is associated with nothing but possibility. [00:14:07] Speaker 00: And those possibilities include two of the things that the board has pointed to as operations, diversity or single antenna. [00:14:16] Speaker 00: So even to the board's reading of Ashita in that sentence that Your Honor just read is inconsistent, flatly inconsistent with the disclosure of Ashita. [00:14:26] Speaker 00: Ashita's big values are not diversity or single antenna. [00:14:29] Speaker 00: They're just not. [00:14:30] Speaker 00: One is not diversity, whatever that means. [00:14:33] Speaker 00: But I'll set that aside for a second. [00:14:35] Speaker 00: And the other, which I'm focusing on, is something's possible. [00:14:39] Speaker 00: You can do whatever you want. [00:14:40] Speaker 00: It can be diversity or single antenna. [00:14:44] Speaker 00: So that's why I'm saying, Your Honor, even if you take the board's factual finding correct, that single antenna is an operation and diversity is an operation, Ashita doesn't show a bit value. [00:14:57] Speaker 00: It doesn't show a bit at all, either of which value. [00:15:00] Speaker 00: Let me go back up. [00:15:02] Speaker 00: The claim requires the bit value to be associated as two options, one and zero. [00:15:07] Speaker 00: Each of those is associated with a reception operation respectively. [00:15:11] Speaker 00: So take the board at its word. [00:15:13] Speaker 00: that the reception operations that could be discussed here are diversity and single antenna. [00:15:18] Speaker 00: And then look at paragraph 68 of Ashita. [00:15:21] Speaker 00: And what you find is that the second of the bit values associated with the D flag of Ashita does not specify either of those, the zero. [00:15:32] Speaker 00: The zero says diversity is possible. [00:15:35] Speaker 00: And then Ashita goes on to say, do either diversity or single antenna. [00:15:40] Speaker 00: So that bit value is not associated [00:15:43] Speaker 00: at all with any reception operation, period. [00:15:48] Speaker 00: Unless Your Honors have further questions, I see that's my time, and I'll wrap up. [00:15:51] Speaker 00: There are a lot of other distinctions, but I think this was a key one, and I appreciate Your Honors' questions. [00:15:56] Speaker 01: Let's see. [00:15:57] Speaker 01: Any more questions? [00:15:58] Speaker 01: Any more questions? [00:16:00] Speaker 01: OK. [00:16:01] Speaker 01: Thank you. [00:16:02] Speaker 01: There's no response to what you've said, so the case is taken under submission. [00:16:08] Speaker 00: Thank you, Your Honors.