Opinion ID: 2648932
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: incompleteness

Text: The Board and the examiner relied on the facially incomplete NetStalker reference to find the claims of the ’236 Patent obvious. Specifically, the Board relied on pages from chapters 5 and 6 of NetStalker. Chapter 6, entitled “Configuring Misuse Detector,” appears to be complete. But chapter 5, entitled “Running NetStalker,” is woefully incomplete. The only pages present are 5-1, 5- 3, 5-5, and 5-7. The Board relies specifically on page 5-5, despite the fact that the preceding and following pages are both missing. The very instructions on which the Board relied in chapter 5 are incomplete. While not cited by the Board, chapter 7, entitled “Managing and Analyzing Log Files,” contains only the first three pages of the chapter; despite that fact, the examiner found it meaningful to his analysis. The Board concluded that the portions of NetStalker that are present “serve to disclose that portion of NetStalker that presumably is relevant to the patentability of the ’236 patent” and that ESR did “not indicate[] that the portions of NetStalker provided are in any way irrelevant to the patentability of the ’975 [sic] patent.” Ex Parte Enhanced Sec. Research, L.L.C., No. 2012-008692, Reexamination No. 90/010,849, 2012 WL 3801778, at  (B.P.A.I. Aug. 30, 2012) (“Enhanced Sec.”) (emphasis added). Though the Board did not find or even consider whether the missing pages were unlikely to teach away from or further clarify the provided pages, the majority proceeds to make factual findings on those issues. The majority finds it implausible that the missing pages of NetStalker would contain evidence contrary to an obviousness finding and says it sees nothing in the submitted portions to clearly indicate that the missing pages would have been meaningful to the Board’s analysis. This is speculation on the part of the majority, however. Speculation cannot substitute for actual evidence that the 4 IN RE ENHANCED SECURITY RESEARCH, LLC missing pages are meaningless. Without those pages, neither this court nor the Board can determine whether the missing pages of NetStalker teach away from the claimed invention. Nor can we clarify whether the missing pages would reveal that NetStalker is actually less similar to the claimed invention than it might appear. And, we are unable to determine whether the NetStalker Manual was only an incomplete draft and, thus, not likely to be publicly accessible. Where a reference is proffered by an interested party with control over all information relating to that reference, it is not too much to ask that the proffer be complete in all material respects. Though the majority disagrees, I believe the Board’s analysis was legally insufficient because it was based only on a consideration of the evidence supporting a finding of obviousness, and did not consider the possibility of evidence contrary to such a finding. In an obviousness analysis, a reference must be considered “in its entirety, i.e., as a whole, including portions that would lead away from the invention in suit.” Panduit Corp. v. Dennison Mfg. Co., 810 F.2d 1561, 1568 (Fed. Cir. 1987). While the majority distinguishes Panduit on the ground that the contrary evidence ignored was clearly in the record in Panduit, I think that is a distinction without a meaningful difference. There is no doubt that what was missing from the reference here related to the operation of the NetStalker product—or at least that version of it—and related specifically to the disclosures in chapter 5 which the Board found central to its obviousness analysis. Whether the Board discounts evidence before it (what the majority says are the Panduit circumstances) or turns a blind eye to the existence of such evidence should not make a difference; in either instance, the Board’s analysis is flawed. This does not mean that the PTO can never rely on a reference that is incomplete. Considering an incomplete IN RE ENHANCED SECURITY RESEARCH, LLC 5 reference may be consistent with the obligation to consider a reference “as a whole” when only an incomplete reference is currently available and reliable evidence about what is missing from the reference is provided. The incomplete reference, in those circumstances, may be deemed the entire existing or relevant reference. This case does not fall into that category; the supporting declaration provides no explanation for NetStalker’s incompleteness, and never even addresses that incompleteness. In fact, the Smaha declaration indicates that the version of NetStalker provided “is a true and correct copy,” (J.A. 9705), which raises a question as to whether the manual ever existed in final form. Similarly, considering an incomplete reference may be consistent with the requirement to consider a reference “as a whole” when omitted portions of a voluminous reference clearly are not relevant because they are not directed to the field of the invention. In such a case, the reference is “whole” at least in relevant part. Again, this case is not that one; NetStalker’s missing pages are in the very sections relevant to the field of the claimed invention. Thus, NetStalker cannot be considered by the Board “as a whole,” Panduit, 810 F.2d at 1568, because it is facially incomplete in the relevant portions and there is no explanation for that incompleteness. The government cites In re NTP, Inc., 654 F.3d 1279, 1296 (Fed. Cir. 2011) for the proposition that a patentee “ha[s] the burden to prove that [a] document [i]s not authentic.” Even assuming that a patentee by analogy has the burden to show the relevance of missing portions of a reference, NTP does not address relevance, and even if it did, ESR met that burden because the missing pages are from a chapter relevant to the field of the invention and contain portions of the very instructions on which the Board relied. Again, the pages on either side of the main page cited by the Board are not there. When a patentee does not have access to the missing pages, it can show 6 IN RE ENHANCED SECURITY RESEARCH, LLC little else, and this showing should be sufficient to render those pages relevant to the content of the prior art and to evidence potentially contrary to a conclusion of obviousness. While I agree that section 2218 of the Manual of Pa- tent Examining Procedure (8th ed. Rev. 9, Aug. 2012) is not dispositive, I believe it is consistent with a prohibition against the Board and the examiner relying on a reference that is incomplete in relevant part with no explanation of why that is so. Section 2218 requires that “a copy of each patent or printed publication relied on or referred to in the request, be filed with the request.” Id. It does not indicate that a portion of a reference can be filed with a request. Section 2218 also provides that “[i]f any of the documents are not in the English language, an English language translation of all necessary and pertinent parts is also required.” Id. Thus, the entire non-English document must be provided, which means that a patentee can gain access to the entire document by having it translated, and even the required partial translation must be sufficiently complete to include the relevant parts. No language in section 2218 suggests that a reference that is incomplete in relevant part can be submitted. Given the potential impact of a Board decision on reexamination, due process concerns arise when, as here, a complete version of a reference is unavailable to a patentee, but the PTO relies on it with no explanation from the provider as to why it is incomplete. “[A] patent is a property right protected by the Due Process Clause . . . .” Abbott Labs. v. Cordis Corp., 710 F.3d 1318, 1327 (Fed. Cir. 2013). While due process considerations frequently focus on notice and hearing, cf. id. at 1328, this court has acknowledged that additional procedures may be mandated by due process when the PTO acts. See id. at 1327. Beyond notice and an opportunity to be heard, “what additional procedures are guaranteed by due proIN RE ENHANCED SECURITY RESEARCH, LLC 7 cess requires balancing the various interests at stake.” Id. at 1328 (citing Mathews v. Eldridge, 424 U.S. 319, 334-35 (1976)). While “excluding compulsory production of testimony in inter partes reexamination proceedings [did not] raise[] a serious constitutional problem” on the facts of Abbott, id. (internal quotation marks omitted), the same cannot be said in this case. In determining what due process requires, the court is to consider three factors: “[f]irst, the private interest that will be affected by the official action; second, the risk of an erroneous deprivation of such interest through the procedures used, and the probable value, if any, of additional or substitute procedural safeguards; and finally, the Government’s interest, including the function involved and the fiscal and administrative burdens that the additional or substitute procedural requirement would entail.” Mathews, 424 U.S. at 335. The second factor examines “the fairness and reliability of the existing . . . procedures.” Id. at 343. First, the patentee has a significant interest in the retention of its rights in a validly issued patent. This is unlike the situation in Paltex Corp. v. Mossinghoff, 771 F.2d 480 (Fed. Cir. 1985), in which this court concluded that a regulation barring a patentee “from communicating with the PTO during the three-month statutory period during which the PTO is required to decide whether any substantial new question of patentability is raised by a reexamination request” was not inconsistent with due process. Id. at 483, 486. In that case, the property interest was only “the temporary deprivation of full enjoyment of patent rights, for the period needed to correct an erroneous determination to reexamine [the] patents.” Id. at 485. Here, the patentee is permanently, not temporarily, deprived of its enjoyment of patent rights. 8 IN RE ENHANCED SECURITY RESEARCH, LLC Second, there is risk of an erroneous deprivation of those rights when the provider of an incomplete document is the one asking that a reexamination be instituted and is involved in active litigation with the patent holder. This is especially so where the only one with access to both the reference and information about the reference is a paid representative of that party. In such circumstances, minimal additional safeguards clearly are warranted. Allowing the PTO to rely on a reference that is unavailable and incomplete without explanation threatens the reliability and fairness of the proceedings. The facts of this case illustrate the risk. Smaha, whose declaration purports to support NetStalker’s use as a reference, was the Chief Executive Officer and chairman of the board of NetStalker’s authoring organization. Smaha stated that he was “engaged as an expert by Juniper Networks, Inc. . . . in connection with the litigation against [ESR],” although he further stated that he had “no interest, personal or otherwise, in the outcome of Juniper’s disputes with ESR.” J.A. 9704. A paid expert for a party adverse to the patentee is not unqualifiedly disinterested; saying he lacks an interest does not change that fact. The provider of the NetStalker manual was in the best position to provide it in its entirety or explain the absence of the missing parts. ESR, on the other hand, had no formal procedural mechanisms to obtain the document or any further explanation from Smaha, and ESR’s efforts to obtain that information informally were rebuffed. When PTO procedures do not require the provider of a reference to provide a complete reference or at least provide—under penalty for falsification—a statement that the document is complete in all relevant parts, that there is an explanation for any missing portions of the document, or that a document is otherwise available to the patentee, the incentive to mislead with partial submissions is great. Basic fairness to patentees should demand more. IN RE ENHANCED SECURITY RESEARCH, LLC 9 Again, this case is different from Paltex in which the “risk of examiner error due to lack of information” is related “only to the question ‘whether a substantial new question of patentability . . . is raised’, 35 U.S.C. § 303, not the answer to the question.” 771 F.2d at 485. Here, the risk of error does relate to the “answer to the question” of patent validity. While in Paltex the PTO’s “expertise [wa]s a factor to be given weight in considering the risk of error at this stage,” id. (emphasis added), the PTO’s expertise can only be applied to the information provided to the examiner. When that information is fundamentally incomplete at the resolution of the validity inquiry, the benefit afforded by a “disinterested expert[]” cannot cure the problem. Third, the PTO need not adopt any new, complex evi- dentiary procedures to cure this problem. The most straightforward corrective action is for the examiner or the Board to refuse to rely on a reference like the one proffered here. There may be some inconvenience and additional cost to the requester who would need to resubmit the reexamination request, but there would be none to the PTO. Requiring a complete document, an explanation for incompleteness, or an indication of public accessibility will strongly incentivize providers of references to meet at least one of these requirements in the first instance. The government’s burden from this additional procedure would be minimal. The relative dearth of other protective procedures in a reexamination reinforces the need to allow the patentee to challenge the examiner’s and the Board’s reliance on a reference that is unavailable and incomplete without explanation. A patentee may not seek discovery or resort to subpoenas to seek information in a reexamination. See Abbott, 710 F.3d at 1328. The absence of vehicles for discovery makes the ability of the patentee to challenge a reference on completeness grounds all the more critical; 10 IN RE ENHANCED SECURITY RESEARCH, LLC otherwise the patentee would be defenseless against one who chooses to provide only those portions of a reference which undercut the validity of a patent. An interested provider of a reference should not be able to use a reference as a sword, while failing to provide the portions of it that may shield the patentee. The due process balance also requires inquiry into the extent to which “judicial-type procedures must be imposed upon administrative action to assure fairness.” Mathews, 424 U.S. at 348. Prohibiting the PTO from relying on non-probative evidence is hardly an elaborate judicial procedure and is certainly one that is necessary to assure the fairness of the proceedings. The Supreme Court has explained that “procedural due process rules are shaped by the risk of error inherent in the truthfinding process as applied to the generality of cases, not the rare exceptions.” Mathews, 424 U.S. at 344. This does not bar finding a due process violation in an individual case, however, because “[a] fundamentally fair adjudication . . . is constitutionally required in all cases, and not just in the large majority.” Cushman v. Shinseki, 576 F.3d 1290, 12991300 (Fed. Cir. 2009). Due process requires “a fair hearing on the merits” of a claim. Cushman, 576 F.3d at 1299. In Cushman, the initial determination of the veteran’s claim “was tainted by the presence of an improperly altered document,” and “[t]he source of the fundamental unfairness that tainted the initial evaluation of Mr. Cushman’s claim was never removed from any prior proceedings.” Id. “The presentation of improperly altered material evidence has been found to constitute a due process violation in analogous cases.” Id. at 1300. When the procedures applied by the PTO do not provide either this court or the patentee some means to determine whether, or some assurance that, the evidence on which the PTO relied was not improperly IN RE ENHANCED SECURITY RESEARCH, LLC 11 altered, those procedures cannot be consistent with due process. The majority and the government cite nothing that allows the Board or the examiner to rely on an incomplete reference. I believe the majority errs in concluding that nothing prohibits the Board from relying on an incomplete reference; due process and concepts of fundamental fairness do. Accordingly, I would reverse the Board’s obviousness finding because it is based on an unreliable reference. 1