1

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS

MARSHALL DIVISION

HEADWATER RESEARCH LLC,

Plaintiff,

v.

AT&T SERVICES, INC., AT&T MOBILITY, 

LLC AND AT&T CORP.,

Defendants.

Case No. 2:23-cv-00397-JRG-RSP

LEAD CASE

Jury Trial Demanded

HEADWATER RESEARCH LLC,

Plaintiff,

v.

AT&T SERVICES, INC., AT&T MOBILITY, 

LLC AND AT&T CORP.,

Defendants.

Case No. 2:23-cv-00398-JRG-RSP

Jury Trial Demanded

JOINT CLAIM CONSTRUCTION AND PREHEARING STATEMENT

Pursuant to Local Patent Rule 4-3, and the Court’s Docket Control Order (Dkt. 41), 

Plaintiff Headwater Research, LLC (“Headwater”) and Defendants AT&T Services, Inc., AT&T 

Mobility, LLC and AT&T Corp. (“AT&T”) (collectively, “Parties”) respectfully submit the 

following Joint Claim Construction and Prehearing Statement.

I. AGREED CLAIM CONSTRUCTIONS (P.R. 4-3(a)(1))

The Parties have not agreed to any claim constructions.

Case 2:23-cv-00397-JRG-RSP Document 67 Filed 09/13/24 Page 1 of 7 PageID #: 1150
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II. DISPUTED CLAIM CONSTRUCTIONS (P.R. 4-3(a)(2))

The Parties’ proposed constructions of disputed terms are provided in the chart below. The 

Parties’ proposed constructions are also set forth in the accompanying Exhibit A, along with the 

intrinsic and extrinsic evidence on which the parties intend to rely.

A. U.S. Patent No. 8,589,541

Term 

# Claim Term Headwater’s Proposed Construction

AT&T’s Proposed 

Construction

1 “one or more prospective or

successful communications

over a wireless network”

(Claim 1 and dependents)

Not indefinite; plain 

and ordinary meaning

Indefinite

2 “service usage activity” 

(Claim 1 and dependents)

Plain and ordinary 

meaning; no 

construction necessary

“an activity by the 

first software 

component that 

requires usage of a 

wireless network 

connection”

3 “background activity” 

(Claim 1 and dependents)

Not indefinite; plain 

and ordinary meaning

Indefinite

B. U.S. Patent No. 9,215,613

Term 

#

Claim Term Headwater’s Proposed 

Construction

AT&T’s Proposed 

Construction

4 “differential traffic control policy”

(Claim 1 and dependents)

Plain and ordinary 

meaning; no 

construction necessary

“rules for controlling 

network traffic that 

distinguishes 

between two or 

more things”

5 “classify whether a particular 

application capable of both 

interacting with the user in a user 

interface foreground of the device, 

and at least some Internet service 

Not indefinite; plain 

and ordinary meaning

Indefinite

Case 2:23-cv-00397-JRG-RSP Document 67 Filed 09/13/24 Page 2 of 7 PageID #: 1151
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Term 

#

Claim Term Headwater’s Proposed 

Construction

AT&T’s Proposed 

Construction

activities when not interacting with 

the user in the device user interface 

foreground, is interacting with the 

user in the device user interface 

foreground”

(Claim 1 and dependents)

6 “the user of the device is directly 

interacting with that application or 

perceiving any benefit from that 

application”

(Claim 6 and dependents)

Not indefinite; plain 

and ordinary meaning

Indefinite

C. U.S. Patent No. 9,198,042

Term 

# Claim Term Headwater’s Proposed Construction

AT&T’s Proposed 

Construction

7 “device service state”

(Claims 1 and dependents)

Plain and ordinary 

meaning; no 

construction necessary

“information about 

the current status of 

the device required 

to adequately define 

the actions needed 

from the service 

controller to 

maintain proper 

device-assisted 

service (DAS) 

system operation”

8 “service policy setting”

(Claim 1 and dependents)

“policy setting for a 

network data service”

“rule for governing 

network service 

usage that can be 

implemented on the 

device”

9 “protected partition”

(Claim 1 and dependents)

Plain and ordinary 

meaning; no 

construction necessary

“a secure device 

assisted service 

execution 

environment”

Case 2:23-cv-00397-JRG-RSP Document 67 Filed 09/13/24 Page 3 of 7 PageID #: 1152
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Term 

# Claim Term Headwater’s Proposed Construction

AT&T’s Proposed 

Construction

10 “service control link”

(Claim 1 and dependents)

Plain and ordinary 

meaning; no 

construction necessary

“host secure

channel for

communication

between the

end-user device

and a network

service

controller”

D. U.S. Patent No. 8,924,543

Term 

# Claim Term Headwater’s Proposed Construction

AT&T’s Proposed 

Construction

11 “service plan component”

(Claim 1 and dependents)

Plain and ordinary 

meaning; no 

construction necessary

“a logical grouping

of one or more

filters and rules”

III. ANTICIPATED LENGTH OF TIME NEEDED FOR THE CLAIM 

CONSTRUCTION HEARING (P.R. 4-3(a)(3))

The parties estimate that three hours will be needed for the claim construction hearing. The 

parties agree that each side will be allocated half of the total time permitted for the hearing.

IV. PROPOSED WITNESSES TO BE USED AT THE CLAIM CONSTRUCTION 

HEARING (P.R. 4-3(a)(4))

No party proposes to call witnesses at the claim construction hearing.

V. OTHER ISSUES TO BE ADDRESSED PRIOR TO CLAIM CONSTRUCTION 

HEARING (P.R. 4-3(a)(5))

The parties are not currently aware of any issues that they would propose taking up at a 

prehearing conference prior to the claim construction hearing.

Case 2:23-cv-00397-JRG-RSP Document 67 Filed 09/13/24 Page 4 of 7 PageID #: 1153
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Dated: September 13, 2024

/s/ Nicholas Mathews

Nicholas Mathews (Lead Counsel)

Texas State Bar No. 24085457

nmathews@McKoolSmith.com

Erik B. Fountain

Texas State Bar No. 24097701

efountain@mckoolsmith.com

Alexander J. Chern 

Texas State Bar No. 24109718 

achern@McKoolSmith.com

Clare Churchman

Texas State Bar No. 24132041

cchurchman@mckoolsmith.com

McKool Smith, P.C.

300 Crescent Court Suite 1500

Dallas, TX 75201

Telephone: (214) 978-4000

Telecopier: (214) 978-4044

Kevin Hess

Texas State Bar No. 

khess@mckoolsmith.com

McKool Smith, P.C.

303 Colorado Street, Suite 2100

Austin, TX 78701

Telephone: (512) 692-8752

Deron R. Dacus

State Bar No. 00790553

ddacus@dacusfirm.com

The Dacus Firm, PC

821 ESE Loop 323, Suite 430

Tyler, TX 75701

Telephone: (903)705-1117

Facsimile: (903) 581-2543

AT&T CORP., AT&T MOBILITY LLC, 

AND AT&T SERVICES INC.

/s/ Marc Fenster

Marc Fenster

CA State Bar No. 181067

Email: mfenster@raklaw.com

Reza Mirzaie

CA State Bar No. 246953

Email: rmirzaie@raklaw.com

Brian Ledahl

CA State Bar No. 186579

Email: bledahl@raklaw.com

Ben Wang

CA State Bar No. 228712

Email: bwang@raklaw.com

Adam Hoffman

CA State Bar No. 218740

Email: ahoffman@raklaw.com

Dale Chang

CA State Bar No. 248657

Email: dchang@raklaw.com

Paul Kroeger

CA State Bar No. 229074

Email: pkroeger@raklaw.com

Neil A. Rubin

CA State Bar No. 250761

Email: nrubin@raklaw.com

Kristopher Davis

CA State Bar No. 329627

Email: kdavis@raklaw.com

James S. Tsuei

CA State Bar No. 285530

Email: jtsuei@raklaw.com

Philip Wang

CA State Bar No. 262239

Email: pwang@raklaw.com

Amy Hayden

CA State Bar No. 287026

Email: ahayden@raklaw.com

Jason M. Wietholter

CA State Bar No. 337139

Email: jwietholter@raklaw.com

Qi (Peter) Tong

TX State Bar No. 24119042 

Email: ptong@raklaw.com

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RUSS AUGUST & KABAT

12424 Wilshire Blvd., 12th Floor

Los Angeles, CA 90025

Telephone: 310-826-7474

Andrea L. Fair

WARD, SMITH & HILL, PLLC 

1507 Bill Owens Parkway 

Longview, Texas 75604 

Telephone: 903-757-6400 

andrea@wsfirm.com

Attorneys for Plaintiff,

Headwater Research LLC

Case 2:23-cv-00397-JRG-RSP Document 67 Filed 09/13/24 Page 6 of 7 PageID #: 1155
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

I certify that all counsel of record who are deemed to have consented to electronic service 

are being served with a copy of this document via the Court’s CM/ECF system.

/s/ Marc Fenster

Marc Fenster

Attorney for Plaintiff,

Headwater Research LLC

CERTIFICATE OF CONFERENCE

I certify that that counsel complied with the requirements of Eastern District of Texas Local 

Rule CV-7(h). The parties agree on filing this joint statement.

/s/ Marc Fenster

Marc Fenster

Attorney for Plaintiff,

Headwater Research LLC

Case 2:23-cv-00397-JRG-RSP Document 67 Filed 09/13/24 Page 7 of 7 PageID #: 1156