Opinion ID: 3209685
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Alias

Text: Several of the claims require a link to be established between an “alias” or “alias term” and a plurality of files. The district court construed the claim term “alias” as a “textual expression that the user can define to serve as an alternative name or label.” Indacon, Inc. v. Facebook, Inc. (Claim Constr. Order), No. 5:10-cv-966-OLG, Dkt. No. 111, at 22 (W.D. Tex. Sept. 6, 2013) (emphasis added). Indacon acknowledges that “alias” and “alias term” are used interchangeably in the ’276 patent. Indacon argues that this term encompasses a “textual or graphical hyperlink,” and not just “textual expression.” Appellant Br. 19. Thus, Indacon essentially raises two disputes with the district court’s construction: (1) whether “alias” encompasses graphical expression as well as textual expression, and (2) whether an “alias” is a hyperlink. We agree with the district court that “alias” and “alias term” are limited to textual expression. The district court first construed “term” as “textual expression, such as words,” finding an express definition of “term” in the specification as “words, numbers, spaces, etc.” Claim Constr. Order at 17–18 (citing ’276 patent col. 12 l. 55). Then, finding that the specification described an alias as a term, the district court looked to this construction of “term” to determine that “alias” is similarly limited to textual expression. INDACON, INC. v. FACEBOOK, INC. 5 Indacon argues that the district court erred by basing its construction of “alias” on its construction of “term.” Indacon has not appealed the district court’s construction of “term,” but instead argues that “alias” is not dependent on the meaning of “term.” We agree with the district court’s approach and conclusion regarding the construction of “alias.” The ’276 patent defines “term” by referring to forms of textual expression (“words, numbers, spaces, etc.”). See id. As the district court explained, the use of “etc.” in this definition implies additional, but similar forms of expression and does not reasonably encompass graphical expression. Indacon also recognizes that exemplary claim 1 is not directed to just an “alias,” but actually requires an “alias term.” Thus, Indacon’s argument that the construction of “term” is irrelevant to the construction of “alias” is unconvincing. Further, nothing in the specification suggests that “alias” encompasses graphical expression. Instead, the specification consistently describes an alias as a term, which, as explained above, is limited to textual expression. The “Summary of the Invention” introduces the concept of an “alias,” explaining: “The link module may further enable at least one alias term to be defined for any selected link term to enable a link to be established between each alias term and any of the files in the database.” ’276 patent col. 5 ll. 64–67 (emphases added). Similarly, all examples of an “alias” in the specification consist of textual expression. See id. col. 11 ll. 34–36 (“For example, the user may define the terms ‘grape’, ‘tomato’, ‘raspberry’, etc., as aliases of a link term ‘vine fruit’.”) (emphases added); id. col. 24 ll. 46–48 (“For example, a user may want to use aliases or synonyms so that ‘equine’ is also linked when ‘horse’ is the primary pattern.”) (emphasis added). The prosecution history also fails to support an interpretation of an “alias” encompassing graphical expression. 6 INDACON, INC. v. FACEBOOK, INC. Indacon uses the specification’s reference to file formats that may contain graphical elements as support for its view that an “alias” can be graphical. See, e.g., id. col. 10 ll. 15–17, col. 22 l. 59 (referencing HTML and RTF files). But nothing in the specification ties these file types, or their potentially graphical elements, to an “alias.” To the contrary, with respect to RTF files, the specification teaches “discard[ing] all image byte sequences without affecting the absolute position determination of visible characters in words.” Id. col. 22 ll. 63–65. We find no support in the intrinsic evidence for Indacon’s assertion that the claimed alias can be graphical. We also agree with the district court that an “alias” is not a hyperlink, contrary to Indacon’s assertions. The specification explains that “[t]he link module may further enable at least one alias term to be defined for any selected link term to enable a link to be established between each alias term and any of the files in the database.” Id. col. 5 ll. 64–67. As such, a link can be established to connect an “alias” or other link term to files in the database, but the alias is not itself the link. Thus, we adopt the district court’s construction of “alias” as a “textual expression that the user can define to serve as an alternative name or label.”