Opinion ID: 615097
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Absolute Patents

Text: The Absolute Patents relate to a method, apparatus, and system for retrieving lost or stolen electronic devices such as laptop computers, personal digital assistants (PDAs), and cell phones, via a global network, such as the Internet. The patents are respectively entitled Apparatus and Method for Monitoring Electronic Devices via a Global Network ('758 Patent); Method and Apparatus to Monitor and Locate an Electronic Device Using a Secured Intelligent Agent via a Global Network ('863 Patent); and Computer Security Monitoring Apparatus and System ('914 Patent). Under the '758 Patent, for example, the invention requires a software program (the agent) that can be loaded onto an electronic device, such as a laptop computer. Using a global network (e.g., the Internet), the agent software program communicates information about the identity and location of the protected electronic device to a host system, which the host system uses to track the whereabouts of the device. Each of the asserted claims of the '758 and '863 Patents requires a step of the agent providing said host system with one or more global network communication links used to enable transmission between said electronic devices and said host system. . . . E.g., '758 Patent col.21 ll.24-27; '863 Patent col.33 ll.22-25. Representative claim 1 of the '758 Patent recites (in this claim and the others below, the term at issue on appeal is emphasized): 1. A method for tracing an electronic device having an agent, said agent used for providing identifying indicia and location information for said electronic device to a host system, said electronic device connectable to said host system through a global network, said method comprising the steps of: loading said agent within said electronic device for initiating communication with said host system such that said agent evades detection; automatically providing said host system with said identifying indicia through said global network for determining the identity of said electronic device; and providing said host system with one or more of the global network communication links used to enable transmission between said electronic device and said host system, said communication links used for determining the location of said electronic device. '758 Patent col.21 ll.12-27. This claim, therefore, requires that the agent (e.g., the software program loaded onto a laptop computer) provide the host system with one or more global network communication links that the host system can use to track the location of the protected device. With respect to this limitation, the parties dispute whether a communication link can be a single Internet Protocol (IP) address or whether it must be a connection between two IP addresses, which by definition requires at least two IP addresses to identify the connection. As discussed below, the district court construed the term to require at least two IP addresses. With respect to the final Absolute Patent, the '914 Patent, the only independent claim asserted is claim 4, which recites 4. A computer security monitoring system, comprising: a computer having visual and audible user interfaces; a telecommunication interface operatively connected to the computer; and agent means embedded in the computer for sending signals to the telecommunication interface including signals for contacting a host monitoring system without signaling the visual or audible user interface, and for providing the host monitoring system with identification indicia of the computer, whereby the host monitoring system could identify whether the computer has been reported lost based on the identifying indicia. '914 Patent col.627 ll.18-29. The emphasized term requires that the agent contact the host without making a signal that a user can see or hear. According to the Summary of the Invention, this feature allows the agent to evade detection and resist possible attempts to disable it by an unauthorized user. Id. col.2 ll.22-24. In other words, the invention requires that the agent send a signal without alerting an unauthorized user, such as a thief, thus preventing the user from becoming aware of the signal and attempting to obstruct it.