Wanker v. United States

In the United States Court of Federal Claims

No. 18-1660

29 January 2021

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WILLIAM PAUL WANKER, *

*

Plaintiff, *

* Patent infringement; claim construction;

v. * Markman hearing; plain and ordinary

* meaning; prosecution disclaimer.

THE UNITED STATES, *

*

Defendant, *

*

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Cabrach J. Connor, of Connor Kudlac Lee PLLC, with whom was Jennifer Tatum Lee,

both of Austin, TX, for plaintiff.

Brian N. Gross, Trial Attorney, Commercial Litigation Branch, Civil Division,

Department of Justice, with whom were Jeffrey Bossert Clark, Acting Assistant Attorney

General, Gary L. Hausken, Director, and Scott Bolden, of counsel, all of Washington, DC, for

defendant.

CLAIM CONSTRUCTION OPINION AND ORDER

Plaintiff William Paul Wanker accuses the government of patent infringement. The

Court previously denied the government’s motion to dismiss alleging the asserted patents are

invalid under 35 U.S.C. § 101 for claiming patent-ineligible subject matter. The Court set a

briefing schedule for the parties to resolve all claim construction disputes. The parties were able

to resolve the construction of several terms amongst themselves. After briefing on the remaining

nine claim terms, the Court held a Markman hearing on claim construction. This Claim

Construction Opinion and Order construes the disputed terms.

I. Background

A. Overview

Plaintiff William Paul Wanker is the “inventor and sole owner” of four U.S. patents:

7,302,429 (the ‘429 patent); 8,126,779 (the ‘779 patent); 8,204,797 (the ‘797 patent); and

9,595,041 (the ‘041 patent) (collectively, “the asserted patents”). Compl. ¶¶ 2, 10, ECF No. 1.

The asserted patents are all part of a single patent family, with the ‘429 patent serving as the

parent application. See id. ¶ 39. The ‘797 and ‘041 patents are each divisional applications of

the ‘429 patent, while the ‘779 patent is a continuation-in-part of the ‘429 patent. Id.

The asserted patents relate generally to consumer information systems, providing a

method for comparing products and services through the use of various weighting factors to

assign each merchant a relative ranking. See U.S. Pat. No. 7,302,429 to Wanker, at Abstract.

This allows for easier comparison and contrasting of various merchants according to weighted

factors specific to the consumer, resulting in the presentation of a ranking relative to other

merchants. See Compl. ¶ 49. Plaintiff commercializes technology covered by the asserted

patents through his company, Legit Services Corporation, to “design[], manufacture[], and sell[]

online software solutions to aid product and service purchasing analysis using selection criteria

with variable weighting factors.” Id. ¶ 9.

The government uses the Past Performance Information Retrieval System (“PPIRS”), a

web-based enterprise application for gathering, processing, and displaying data regarding the

performance of entities and organizations supplying goods and services to the United States. Id.

¶ 11. Plaintiff alleges various government agencies, including the Department of Defense

(“DoD”) and General Services Administration (“GSA”), infringe the asserted patents through

their use of PPIRS. See id. ¶¶ 4, 97, 100. According to plaintiff, “[t]he GSA directs and controls

PPIRS.” Id. ¶ 97. The DoD E-Business Office sponsors PPIRS, which is then “administered by

the Naval Sea Logistics Center Detachment Portsmouth.” Id. ¶ 100. PPIRS is used for “ranking

merchants that sell products and services to the United States Government,” by “stor[ing] in a

database information regarding individual government contractors, the products and services

offered by each contractor, and the corresponding contract performance data for each

contractor.” Compl. ¶¶ 109, 115.

B. Procedural History

Plaintiff filed his complaint on 26 October 2018. See Compl. The government filed a

motion to dismiss on 1 April 2019, alleging the asserted patents are invalid as a matter of law

under 35 U.S.C. § 101 for being directed to patent-ineligible subject matter. See Defendant

United States of America’s Motion to Dismiss Under Rule 12(b)(6) (“Gov’t’s MTD”), ECF No.

11. Following an oral argument on 6 November 2019, the Court denied the government’s

motion to dismiss. See Op. and Order, ECF No. 30. The government subsequently filed its

Answer on 30 March 2020. See Answer, ECF No. 33.

The parties jointly proposed a claim construction schedule in accordance with the “Order

Governing Proceedings – Patent Case” of the Honorable Judge Albright of U.S. District Court for the

Western District of Texas (Waco Division). See Joint Revised Proposed Schedule Governing

Claim Construction, ECF No. 41. Accordingly, the Court issued an order on 9 June 2020 setting

a schedule for claim construction proceedings. See Order, ECF No. 42. Plaintiff and the

government each filed their opening claim construction briefs on 7 October 2020 (“Pl.’s Op. Cl.

Constr. Br.,” ECF No. 46 and “Gov’t’s Op. Cl. Constr. Br.,” ECF No. 45), responsive claim

construction briefs on 21 October 2020 (“Pl.’s Resp. Cl. Constr. Br.,” ECF No. 48 and “Gov’t’s

Resp. Cl. Constr. Br.,” ECF No. 47), and reply claim construction briefs on 2 November 2020

(“Pl.’s Reply Cl. Constr. Br.,” ECF No. 51 and “Gov’t’s Reply Cl. Constr. Br.,” ECF No. 50).

The parties filed a joint claim construction statement on 23 October 2020. See Joint Cl. Constr.

Stmt., ECF No. 49. After providing the parties a preliminary construction for all terms-in-

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dispute, the Court held an oral argument on 18 November 2020. Transcript, ECF No. 54 (“Tr.”)

at 7:14–15.

C. Factual History and Technology

Plaintiff filed the ‘429 patent, the parent application of plaintiff’s asserted patent family,

on 11 April 1999. See ‘429 Patent at Cover Page. Originally filed as application number

09/290,006, the ‘429 patent does not claim priority to any previously filed applications. See id.

Plaintiff asserts infringement of 61 total claims: 15 claims of the ‘429 patent, including

independent claims 1, 8, 17, and 18; 2 claims of the ‘779 patent, including independent claim 1;

28 claims of the ‘797 patent, including independent claims 1, 8, and 9; and 16 claims of the ‘041

patent, including independent claims 1, 14, 25, and 29.

“The Asserted Patents are directed to an online information system and methods of

collecting, processing and analyzing information regarding merchants and the products and

services offered to establish a weighting of comparison information.” Compl. ¶ 49. The

merchant information is then presented to the consumer “in the form of a ranking based on

multiple, independently definable criteria.” Id.

Figure 1, reproduced below, provides an “illustrative block diagram of the comparison

shopping system.” ‘429 Patent at col. 2 ls. 66–67.

Id. at fig.1.

The database stores information “relating to products offered by merchants[,] . . .

information on the merchants[,] . . . [and] an initial set of weighting factors.” Id. at col. 4 ls. 5–8.

The server connects the database to the consumer by receiving “queries from consumers’ [sic] []

who are located at remote locations and access the server through the internet.” Id. at col. 4 ls.

9–11 (reference numerals omitted). “In response to a query forwarded by the consumer the

server requests comparison information from the database relating to both the product specified

in the query and the merchants offering the specified product.” Id. at col. 4 ls. 29–32.

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Additionally, the server “retrieves weighting factor information from the database” and “applies

the weighting factor information to the merchant information and the comparison information on

the specified product to calculate weighted comparison factors relating to product and merchant

information.” ‘429 Patent at col. 4 ls. 33–37.

The weighting factors are “arranged into four categories: product information;

merchant’s business information; merchant specific information on the specified product; and

merchant specific information on the merchant’s business history.” Id. at col. 4 ls. 48–52

(reference numerals omitted). The weighted comparison factors are “summed to an aggregate

score for each merchant.” Id. at col. 4 ls. 40–41. The aggregate score is used to rank the various

merchants being analyzed. Id. at col. 4 ls. 41–43. The consumer then receives the ranking of

merchants from the server “through the internet as a response to the consumer’s query.” Id. at

col. 4 ls. 43–45.

Figure 3, reproduced below, shows a “flow diagram illustrating the process of applying

the weighting factors to calculate the ranking of merchants.” Id. at col. 3 ls. 22–24.

‘429 Patent at fig.3.

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Viewed in connection with Figure 1, Figure 3 illustrates the process beginning with the

server’s request for comparison information in response to a consumer’s query. Id. at col. 6 ls.

36–40. “The server checks whether comparison information is available on the product specified

in the consumer’s query.” Id. at col. 6 ls. 40–42. If comparison information is not available, the

query is returned. See id. at fig.3.

When comparison information is available, the “process proceeds [to the next step] where

the database [] responds to the server’s request by providing the comparison information,

including weighting factors.” Id. at col. 6 ls. 43–46. When comparison information is not

available or is insufficient to perform a ranking, the server returns the query to the consumer for

modification. Id. at col. 6 ls. 53–59. If the information is sufficient to calculate a ranking, the

system proceeds to a final series of steps. Id. at col. 6 ls. 63–64. This final series of steps:

screens merchants not meeting selected criteria via a filter; screens comparison information not

common to all surviving merchants; calculates an aggregate score for each merchant as a sum of

applied weighting factors; and ranks the merchants based upon their aggregate score. See ‘429

Patent at col. 6 l . 64 – col. 8 l. 14. A “ranking of the merchants who are offering the [specified]

goods” is finally returned to the consumer. Id. at col. 8 ls. 10–14.

The comparison shopping system disclosed in the asserted patents has “the ability to

include information from multiple merchants,” which “marked ‘a significant improvement over

single-vendor systems’ in the prior art.” Op. and Order at 18 (quoting Plaintiff’s Supplemental

Response in Opposition to Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss Under Rule 12(b)(6) (“Pl.’s Suppl.

Resp.”) at 18, ECF No. 22). Moreover, at the time of the invention, “many of the prior art

systems provided ranking based solely on price or were not customizable,” whereas the asserted

patents enable “a weighted-factor analysis pre-query” based on multiple weighting factors. Id. at

18–19 (quoting Pl.’s Suppl. Resp. at 9). The asserted patents also solve a problem in the prior art

“regarding merchants’ ability to skew search results in their favor” “by requiring the weighting

factors to be ‘entered by a consumer.’” Id. at 20 (quoting ‘429 Patent at col. 22 l. 27). In

contrast to “prior art systems performing filtering functions after the generation of results,” the

systems in the asserted patents “provide an online product purchasing system with increased

functionality over those available in the prior art.” Id. at 22.

D. Overview of Claims

Plaintiff asserts infringement of claims 1, 2, 5–10, and 14–20 of the ‘429 patent, with

claims 1, 8, 17, and 18 being independent claims; claims 1–6, 8, 13–17, 19, 24, 25, and 29 of the

‘779 patent, with claim 1, 14, 25, and 29 being independent claims; claims 1 and 2 of the ‘797

patent, with claim 1 being an independent claim; and claims 1–6, 9, 11–13, 26–29, and 31–36 of

the ‘041 patent, with claims 1 and 9 being independent claims. See Gov’t’s Op. Cl. Constr. Br at

7. Based on the Court's detailed review of the patents, the disputed claim terms appear in the

claims as follows: 1

1

For claim term construction, the Court conducted a full review of the patents for claims containing disputed terms.

The Court’s review resulted in minor differences of claims here as compared to those in the parties’ briefs. See

generally Pl.’s Op. Cl. Constr. Br. For example, in plaintiff’s brief, claims 1, 3, 8, 14, 19, 25, and 29 of the ‘429

patent include the disputed claim “plurality.” Id. at 3. The Court, however, recognizes claims 3 and 25 of the ‘429

patent neither include “plurality” nor are asserted against the government, and the ‘429 patent does not have a claim

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Disputed Term Claims Disputed Term Appears in

“plurality” claims 1, 8, 17, and 18 of the ‘429 patent

claims 1, 3, 8, 14, 19, 25, and 29 of the ‘779 patent

claims 1 and 2 of the ‘797 patent

claims 1–3, 6, 9, 11–12, 26–27, 32–34 of the ‘041

patent

“category” claims 1 and 15–18 of the ‘429 patent

claims 8 and 19 of the ‘779 patent

claims 1 and 2 of the ‘797 patent

claims 6, 11–12, and 32–34 of the ‘041 patent

“configured to” claims 9, 29, 31–32, 34, and 36 of the ‘041 patent

“merchant comparison claims 1, and 17–18 of the ‘429 patent

information” and “product claims 1, 4, 8, 14–15, 19, 25, and 29 of the ‘779

comparison information” and patent

“stored comparison data” claim 1 of the ‘797 patent

“non-opinion data” claims 1 and 8 of the ‘429 patent

claims 2, 14, and 29 of the ‘779 patent

claims 2 and 26 of the ‘041 patent

“merchant comparison claims 17–18 of the ‘429 patent

information excluding opinion

data and survey result data” and

“merchant comparison

information excludes

information obtained from

surveys and information

specifying the opinion of a

person”

Accordingly, the Court finds claims 1 and 17 of the ‘429 patent useful for illustrating the

disputed claims. Claims 1 and 17 of the ‘429 patent are reproduced below, with emphasis on

each of the disputed claim terms:

1. In an online comparison system, a method of ranking merchants,

comprising:

29. ‘429 patent at col. 22 ls. 60–63, col. 26 ls. 11–12 (The ‘429 patent has 25 claims). In subsequent sections,

where the Court addresses construction of each term, the Court cites to plaintiff’s brief for claims with disputed

terms. See infra at Sections III–VIII. The difference between the Court’s list here, and the parties’ briefs, is

assumed to be minor typographical errors in brief writing.

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entering by a consumer a set of weighting factors prior to receiving

query information related to a potential consumer purchase, the

weighting factors corresponding to categories of merchant

comparison information data;

receiving the query information related to the potential consumer

purchase;

receiving a plurality of merchant comparison information data for

a plurality of merchants related to completing the potential

consumer purchase, the merchant comparison information data for

a merchant organized into a plurality of categories, wherein the

merchant comparison information data includes non-opinion data

from at least two categories from price category, product

availability category, product inventory category, time to deliver

product category, payment terms category, payment method

category, merchant creditworthiness category, and inventory

category information;

calculating a plurality of respective merchant data weight resultant

values for each merchant of the plurality of merchants by

multiplying each weighting factor from the entered set of

weighting factors by a data value of the merchant comparison

information data from a corresponding merchant data category;

calculating an aggregate score for each merchant by summing the

plurality of calculated merchant data weight resultant values;

ranking the merchants based on the aggregate scores to produce a

ranking result; and

returning the ranking result to the consumer, the ranking result

corresponding to the received query information.

17. A method of ranking merchants in an online comparison

system, comprising:

receiving from a consumer a set of weighting factors prior to

receiving query information specifying a product or service, the

weighting factors corresponding to categories of merchant

comparison information, wherein each said weighting factor is

entered as a numerical value and represents the relative importance

to be given to corresponding merchant comparison information in

ranking the merchants;

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receiving the query information related to a product or service

from the consumer;

retrieving merchant comparison information data of merchants

offering said product or service from a database, the retrieved

merchant comparison information data corresponding to the

entered query information, the merchant comparison information

excluding opinion data and survey result data;

calculating a plurality of weighted category scores for each

merchant by, for each of the weighting factors, multiplying the

weighting factor by a corresponding data value of the retrieved

merchant comparison information data to calculate a weighted

category score, and

summing the weighted category scores to calculate a merchant

overall score of each merchant;

ranking the merchants according to the calculated merchant overall

score of each merchant to produce a ranking result; and

returning the ranking result to the consumer, the ranking result

corresponding to the received query information.

‘429 Patent col. 22 ls. 25–56, col. 24 ls. 17–46 (emphasis added).

II. Construction of Disputed Claim Terms

A. Applicable Law

1. Construction of Claim Terms

“[T]he interpretation and construction of patents claims, which define the scope of the

patentee’s rights under the patent, is a matter of law exclusively for the court.” Markman v.

Westview Instruments, Inc., 52 F.3d 967, 970–71 (Fed. Cir. 1995). “To construe a claim term,

the trial court must determine the meaning of any disputed words from the perspective of one of

ordinary skill in the pertinent art at the time of filing.” Chamberlain Grp. v. Lear Corp., 516

F.3d 1331, 1335 (Fed. Cir. 2008). “[T]he words of a claim ‘are generally given their ordinary

and customary meaning,’” which “is the meaning that the term would have to a person of

ordinary skill in the art in question at the time of the invention, i.e., as of the effective filing date

of the patent application.’” Phillips v. AWH Corp., 415 F.3d 1303, 1312–13 (Fed. Cir. 2005)

(citing Vitronics Corp. v. Conceptronic, Inc., 90 F.3d 1576, 1582 (Fed. Cir. 1996)). “There are

only two exceptions to this general rule: (1) when a patentee sets out a definition and acts as his

own lexicographer, or (2) when the patentee disavows the full scope of a claim term either in the

specification or during prosecution.” Thorner v. Sony Comput. Entm’t Am. LLC, 669 F.3d 1362,

1365 (Fed. Cir. 2012).

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The analysis of any disputed claim terms begins with the intrinsic evidence of record, as

“intrinsic evidence is the most significant source of the legally operative meaning of disputed

claim language.” Vitronics, 90 F.3d at 1582. Additional claims, whether asserted or not, “can

also be valuable sources of enlightenment as to the meaning of a claim term.” Phillips, 415 F.3d

at 1314. This includes consistent use throughout the patent, differences amongst particular

terms, and various limitations added throughout the dependent claims. Id. at 1314–15. The

claims do not stand on their own; “they are part of ‘a fully integrated written instrument,’

consisting principally of a specification that concludes with the claims.” Id. at 1315 (quoting

Markman, 52 F.3d at 978). The claims are therefore “read in view of the specification.”

Markman, 52 F.3d at 979. It is important that limitations from preferred embodiments are not

read “into the claims absent a clear indication in the intrinsic record that the patentee intended

the claims to be so limited.” Liebel-Flarsheim v. Medrad, Inc., 358 F.3d 898, 913 (Fed. Cir.

2004).

The Federal Circuit’s case law “instructs that different claim terms are presumed to have

different meanings.” MicroStrategy Inc. v. Business Objects Americas, 238 F. App’x 605, 609

(Fed. Cir. 2007) (citing CAE Screenplates Inc. v. Heinrich Fiedler GmbH & Co. KG, 224 F.3d

1308, 1317 (Fed.Cir.2000) (“In the absence of any evidence to the contrary, we must presume

that the use of these different terms in the claims connotes different meanings.”); Applied Med.

Res. Corp. v. U.S. Surgical Corp., 448 F.3d 1324, 1333 n. 3 (Fed.Cir.2006) (“[T]he use of two

terms in a claim requires that they connote different meanings....”)).

2. Prosecution History

The prosecution history may serve as an additional source of intrinsic evidence.

Markman, 52 F.3d at 980. The prosecution history “consists of the complete record of the

proceedings before the [United States Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”)] and includes the

prior art cited during the examination of the patent.” Phillips, 415 F.3d at 1317. The

prosecution history “represents an ongoing negotiation between the [US]PTO and the applicant,

rather than the final product of that negotiation.” Id. This results in the prosecution history often

“lack[ing] the clarity of the specification,” making it “less useful for claim construction

purposes.” Id. After considering all intrinsic evidence of record, the court has discretion to

consider sources of extrinsic evidence, such as dictionaries, treatises, and expert and inventor

testimony, if the court “deems it helpful in determining ‘the true meaning of language used in the

patent claims.’” Id. at 1317–18 (quoting Markman, 52 F.3d at 980). While sometimes helpful,

extrinsic evidence is “less significant than the intrinsic record in determining the legally

operative meaning of claim language.” Id. at 1317 (quoting C.R. Bard, Inc. v. U.S. Surgical

Corp., 388 F.3d 858, 862 (Fed Cir. 2004) (internal quotation marks and citations omitted)).

“Prosecution disclaimer ‘preclud[es] patentees from recapturing through claim

interpretation specific meanings disclaimed during prosecution.’” Aylus Networks, Inc. v. Apple

Inc., 856 F.3d 1353, 1359 (Fed. Cir. 2017) (quoting Omega Eng’g, Inc. v. Raytek Corp., 334

F.3d 1314, 1323 (Fed. Cir. 2003)). Federal Circuit caselaw “requires that the alleged disavowing

actions or statements made during prosecution be both clear and unmistakable” in order to apply

the principles of prosecution disclaimer. Id. (quoting Omega Eng’g, 334 F.3d at 1325–26).

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“[W]hen the patentee unequivocally and unambiguously disavows a certain meaning to obtain a

patent, the doctrine of prosecution history disclaimer narrows the meaning of the claim

consistent with the scope of the claim surrendered.” Biogen Idec, Inc. v. GlaxoSmithKline LLC,

713 F.3d 1090, 1095 (Fed. Cir. 2013). “Where the alleged disavowal is ambiguous, or even

‘amenable to multiple reasonable interpretations,’ [the Federal Circuit has] declined to find

prosecution disclaimer.” Avid Tech., Inc. v. Harmonic, Inc., 812 F.3d 1040, 1045 (Fed. Cir.

2016) (quoting Cordis Corp. v. Medtronic AVE, Inc., 339 F.3d 1352, 1359 (Fed. Cir. 2003)).

In Iridescent Networks, Inc. v. AT&T Mobility, L.L.C., the district court construed the

term “high quality of service connection,” partially relying on the patentee’s own statements

during prosecution of the parent application. 933 F.3d 1345 at 1349–50 (Fed. Cir. 2019). On

appeal, plaintiff contended that “the prosecution history is irrelevant to the claim construction

question because there is no clear and unmistakable disavowal of claim scope.” Id. at 1352. The

Federal Circuit rejects this argument, stating “[a]ny explanation, elaboration, or qualification

presented by the inventor during patent examination is relevant, for the role of claim construction

is to ‘capture the scope of the actual invention’ that is disclosed, described, and patented.” Id. at

1352–53 (quoting Fenner Invs., Ltd. v. Cellco P’ship, 778 F.3d 1320, 1323 (Fed. Cir. 2015)

(internal citation omitted)). The Federal Circuit also notes “the disputed term [“high quality of

service connection”] is a coined term, meaning it has no ordinary and customary meaning.” Id.

at 1353. The Federal Circuit holds that courts “may look to the prosecution history for guidance

without having to first find a clear and unmistakable disavowal” for terms which do not have

ordinary and customary meaning. Id.

B. Terms Resolved by the Parties

The parties filed a joint claim construction statement on 23 October 2020 indicating they

“have reached agreement on certain terms’ proposed constructions as detailed in the following

table:”

Claim Term Agreed-Upon Construction

“consumer” person or entity seeking information on a

good or service

“merchant” any provider of a good or service

“product” any good or service which is the subject

of commerce

Joint Claim Construction Statement, ECF No. 49 at 1–2.

C. Disputed Terms

The Court will construe the disputed terms in the following order:

No. Term

1 “merchant comparison information” “stored comparison information”

4a “non-opinion data”

4b “merchant comparison information excluding

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opinion data and survey result data” / “merchant comparison information

excludes information obtained from surveys and information specifying the

opinion of a person”

2 “plurality”

3 “category”

5 “configured to”

The term numbering is adopted from the parties’ Joint Claim Construction Statement

chart. See Exhibit A of Joint Claim Construction Statement, ECF No. 49-a. Term #4 in the

parties’ joint statement includes three terms: “non-opinion data,” “merchant comparison

information excluding opinion data and survey result data,” and “merchant comparison

information excludes information obtained from surveys and information specifying the opinion

of a person.” Id. at 2–3. The parties dispute whether “non-opinion data” has the same meaning

as “merchant comparison information excluding opinion data and survey result data” / “merchant

comparison information excludes information obtained from surveys and information specifying

the opinion of a person.” Id. The Court labels “non-opinion data” as term #4a, and the other two

terms as term #4b. The disputed terms discussed in this order follows the same sequence agreed

during the Markman hearing, as earlier terms build into later terms. See Tr. at 7:1–8:24.

III. Disputed Claim Term #1: “Merchant Comparison Information” / “Stored

Comparison Information” 2

Plaintiff’s Proposed Construction The Government’s Proposed Construction

No construction necessary “the actual data on the merchant or the

product”

Alternatively, “information used to compare

products or merchants” 3

Plaintiff lists this disputed term in the following claims: claims 1 and 17–18 of the ‘429

patent; claims 1, 13, 14, 24, and 29 of the ‘779 patent; and claims 1 and 2 of the ‘797 patent. See

Pl.’s Op. Cl. Const. Br. at 8. For example, claim 1 of the ‘429 patent recites “entering by a

consumer a set of weighting factors prior to receiving query information related to a potential

consumer purchase, the weighting factors corresponding to categories of merchant comparison

information data.” ‘429 Patent at 22:27–30 (emphasis added).

A. Parties Arguments

2

The parties jointly list “product comparison information” along with “merchant comparison information” and

“stored comparison data” as one term in dispute. See Exhibit A of Joint Claim Construction Statement, ECF No. 49-

a, at 1. Plaintiff lists claims 1 and 17–18 of the ’429 patent, claims 1, 13, 14, 24, and 29 of the ’779 patent, and

claims 1 and 2 of the ’797 patent to include this term. See Pl.’s Op. Cl. Const. Br. at 8. During oral argument,

parties clarified the term “product comparison information” does not appear in the alleged claims. Tr. at 27:12–28:6.

Accordingly, the Court is not construing “product comparison information.”

3

Plaintiff argues no construction is necessary for this term if the Court finds (1) comparison information includes

weighting factors; and (2) comparison information does not include prior purchaser feedback and survey results. Pl.

Op. Cl. Constr. Br. at 8. Plaintiff does not state in the opening brief why the alternate construction is “information

used to compare products or merchants” but simply states its construction “naturally aligns with the nature and use

of the recited comparison information and data.” Id. at 10.

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Plaintiff states “[t]here are two aspects to the parties’ dispute: (1) whether comparison

information includes only actual data and excludes weighting factors; and (2) whether ‘actual

data’ limits the comparison information by type or source,” or more specifically, “does

comparison information include prior purchaser feedback and survey results?” Pl.’s Op. Cl.

Constr. Br. at 8. Plaintiff argues comparison information should not exclude weighting factors

or prior purchaser feedback and survey results. See id. The government characterizes the

parties’ dispute as “whether the terms . . . [are] limited to data specific to a particular merchant or

product or rather encompasses more generally any information used for comparison.” Gov’t’s

Op. Cl. Constr. Br. at 12.

1. Whether “Actual Data” Limits the Comparison Information by Type

or Source

Plaintiff alleges “actual data” in the government’s construction limits the comparison

information by type or source. See Pl.’s Resp. Cl. Constr. Br. at 6 (“[A]pplying the

Government’s construction to ‘Banking History and Credit Information 261’ [in Fig. 2E]

suggests that the ‘actual data’ underlying a merchant’s credit rating or length of credit accounts

is required to meet the claim limitation.”). According to plaintiff, the specification describes

comparison information as:

The comparison information retrieved from the database includes

information relating to the merchant and information relating to the

product specified in the query, as well as weighting factors to be

applied to this information to produce a ranking or evaluation of

each merchant’s offering of the product.

Pl.’s Resp. Cl. Constr. Br. at 6 (citing ‘429 Patent at col. 6 ls. 48–53). Figs. 2A-2G illustrate

“examples of comparison information items.” Id. (citing ‘429 Patent at col. 14 ls. 48–49).

Plaintiff cites Fig. 2E as an example to show the government’s “interpretation imposing such a

requirement [of actual data] on comparison information is inconsistent with the intrinsic record.”

Id. at 6–7. According to plaintiff, “applying the [g]overnment’s construction to ‘Banking

History and Credit Information 261’ [in Fig. 2E] suggests that the ‘actual data’ underlying a

merchant’s credit rating or length of credit accounts is required to meet the claim limitation” of

“merchant comparison information.” Id. at 6.

The government emphasizes its construction “only requires that the data be specific to the

particular merchant or particular product, excluding only general data used in the comparison

process.” Gov’t’s Resp. Cl. Constr. Br. at 2. The government argues the specification provides

“specific examples . . . of ‘merchant comparison information data’” and “identifies these types of

‘merchant comparison information data’ as ‘specific’ to the product or merchant.” Gov’t’s Op.

Cl. Constr. Br. at 12 (citing, e.g., ‘429 Patent at col. 5 ls. 33–35 (identifying price and payment

options as “merchant specific information”) (emphasis original)). The government’s reply brief

contends it “has never alleged, nor does its proposed construction impose any requirement,” to

limit the type or source of “merchant comparison information.” Gov’t’s Reply Cl. Constr. Br. at

2.

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2. Whether Comparison Information Includes Only Actual Data and

Excludes Weighting Factors

Plaintiff contends the specification “explicitly described [weighting factors] as part of the

comparison information.” Pl.’s Op. Cl. Constr. Br. at 9 (citing ‘429 Patent at col. 6 ls. 34–53

(“the database (10) responds to the server’s request by providing the comparison information,

including weighting factors, to the server”)). Plaintiff cites Table 1 of the ‘429 Patent as

providing “examples of weighting factors used in comparing and ranking merchants.” Pl.’s

Resp. Cl. Constr. Br. at 7 (citing ‘429 Patent at col. 8 ls. 15–16). Plaintiff objects to the

government’s reliance on prosecution history for construing the claim, because “[patentee’s]

explanation during prosecution did not define or otherwise effect a disavowal of claim scope.”

Id. at 4. According to plaintiff, patentee’s prosecution statement was to distinguish prior art:

“the prior art relied on professional ‘expert’ opinions or reviews,” whereas in patentee’s

invention, “[t]he merchant comparison information data is the actual data on the merchant or

their product or services.” Pl.’s Op. Cl. Constr. Br. at 9 (citing Request for Continued

Examination under 37 C.F.R. §1.114 for U.S. Application No. 09/290,006 (Issued as U.S. Pat.

No. 7,302,429) Dated 25 August 2004 (“the 25 August 2004 RCE of the ‘429 patent”) at 7); also

see Pl.’s Resp. Cl. Constr. Br. at 4–5. Plaintiff states the patentee “stressed the meaning of

‘merchant comparison information’ as used in the specification and in so doing did not express a

clear and unmistakable disavowal of claim scope.” Pl. Resp. Cl. Constr. Br. at 4. The relevant

prosecution history cited by plaintiff is reproduced below:

The Application is quite clear, as demonstrated by the excerpt of

the Specification reproduced above, that weighting factors

represent the relative importance of a category of merchant

comparison information data. These weighting factors are

multiplied against merchant comparison data to calculate a

weighted comparison value. The merchant comparison information

data is the actual data on the merchant or their product or

services. . . . These weighted comparison values are then summed

to calculate a merchant aggregate score. Represented as a formula:

aggregate score = (weighting factor 1) (merchant data from

category 1) + (weighting factor 2) (merchant data from category 2)

+ .... + (weighting factor N) (merchant data from category N)

Rewriting this formula in a cleaner format:

Merchant Score = WF 1 x (Data 1) + WF 2 x (Data 2) + ... + WF 3 x

(Data 3)

Id. at 5 (emphasis added) (citing the 25 August 2004 RCE of the ‘429 patent at 7).

Plaintiff’s reply brief contends the specification supports both scenarios when “weighting

factors” are or are not a part of “merchant comparison information.” Pl.’s Reply Cl. Constr. Br.

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at 2. Plaintiff agrees “weighting factors” that are “stored weighting factors,” i.e., “historical

settings by a consumer that can be re-used,” are excluded from “merchant comparison

information.” Id. Plaintiff, however, argues “the specification provides support for rejecting the

Government’s negative limitation,” as “[i]n addition to storing merchant and product

information, ‘the database stores an initial set of weighting factors.’” Id. (citing ‘429 Patent at

col. 4 ls. 7–8.).

The government contends the patentee distinguished “merchant comparison information”

from “weighting factors” in the following prosecution statement:

Thus, the Office Action’s contention that weighting factors may be

entered is factually incorrect, as the only values that may be

entered on the cited pages of BizRate.com are grades which ARE

NOT equivalent to weighting factors. The grades entered in

BizRate.com are a form of merchant comparison information,

and not a form of weighting factor. The grades are a form of data

on the merchant, however, subjective, and represent a reviewers

[sic] subjective opinion on that aspect of a merchant.

Gov’t’s Resp. Cl. Constr. Br. at 3 (citing the 25 August 2004 RCE of the ‘429 patent at 13). The

government further argues the patentee “defined and explained the relationship between

‘weighting factors’ and ‘merchant comparison information’” citing the same portion in the

prosecution history as plaintiff. Id. (citing the 25 August 2004 RCE of the ‘429 patent at 7 (“The

merchant comparison information data is the actual data on the merchant or their product or

services.”)).

The government asserts the language of claim 17 of the ‘429 patent distinguishes

between “weighting factors” and “merchant comparison information.” Id. at 4. Claim 17 recites

“receiving from a consumer a set of weighting factors,” “retrieving merchant comparison

information data . . [sic] from a database,” and “multiplying the weighting factor by a

corresponding data value of the retrieved merchant comparison information data.” Id. (citing

‘429 Patent at col. 24 ls. 19–36). The government alleges “the patent clearly distinguishes

between ‘weighting factors’ and ‘comparison information’” by teaching:

In response to a query forwarded by the consumer the server

requests comparison information from the database relating to both

the product specified in the query and the merchants offering the

specified product. The server also retrieves weighting factor

information from the database.

Id. at 5 (citing ‘429 Patent at col. 4 ls. 29–33) (emphasis original).

The government alleges there are ample disclosures “within the specification that

distinguish between weighting factors and comparison information.” Gov’t’s Reply Cl. Constr.

Br. at 3 (citing, e.g., ‘429 Patent at col. 4 ls. 34–37 (“The server applies the weighting factor

information to the merchant information and the comparison information on the specified

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product to calculate weighted comparison factors relating to product and merchant

information.”)). The government argues plaintiff wrongly relies on Table 1 to support its

contention, as “Table 1 itself contains examples of various types of comparison information that

each can have a weighting factor associated with them.” Id. at 4 (citing ‘429 Patent col. 7 l. 18 –

col. 13 l. 47). The government further explains “the calculation of the aggregate score using the

stored merchant weighting factors” demonstrates weighting factors are not part of the merchant

comparison information. Id. at 4 (citing ‘429 Patent col. 18 ls. 22–24, col. 19 ls. 1–6)

(explaining “the system applies the weighting factors to the corresponding comparison

information” and “[t]he weighting factors, represented as percentage values reflecting the

respective contribution of the corresponding weighting factor data, are multiplied by their

corresponding comparison information item”).

Regarding plaintiff’s argument against the government’s reliance on prosecution history

to construe this term, the government agrees the patentee’s statement does not constitute a “clear

and unmistakable disavowal,” thus “the Court need not apply the doctrine of prosecution history

disclaimer to construe the term.” Id. at 5. The government argues, however, it should be

allowed to rely on prosecution history in interpreting the term because “the prosecution history is

relevant as it illustrates the precise invention claimed.” Id. at 5–6 (“Accordingly, it is entirely

appropriate to ‘look to the prosecution history for guidance without having to first find a clear

and unmistakable disavowal.’” (quoting Iridescent Networks, Inc. v. AT&T Mobility, L.L.C., 933

F.3d 1345 at 1355 (Fed. Cir. 2019))).

B. Analysis

1. The Court’s Preliminary Construction

Before the Markman hearing, the Court provided the parties with the Court’s preliminary

construction. Tr. at 7:4–8. In reaching the preliminary construction, the Court considered both

parties’ claim construction briefs and all referenced materials in full.

The specification does not explicitly define “merchant comparison information.” Claim 1

provides “merchant comparison information” data includes data from “at least two categories

from price category, product availability category, product inventory category, time to deliver

product category, payment terms category, payment method category, merchant creditworthiness

category, and inventory category information.” ‘429 Patent at col. 22 ls. 37–43. The

specification characterizes information data in these categories as “merchant specific

information.” See id. at col. 5 ls. 33–35, 47 (identifying price and payment options as “merchant

specific information”); id. at col. 5 ls. 62–64 (identifying time in business as “merchant specific

information”); id. at col. 6 ls. 26–32 (identifying merchant’s service rating and response rating as

“merchant specific information”). Additionally, the specification discloses the invention uses

four categories of comparison information: product information; merchant’s business

information; merchant specific information on the specified product; and merchant specific

information on the merchant’s business history. See id. at col. 4 ls. 46–52.

The government construes this term as “the actual data on the merchant or the product.”

Gov’t’s Op. Cl. Constr. Br. at 11. The government’s proposed construction emphasizes

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“merchant comparison information” / “stored comparison information” need to be specific to the

particular merchant or particular product, “excluding only more general data used in the

comparison process.” Gov’t’s Resp. Cl. Constr. Br. at 2; see also Gov’t’s Op. Cl. Constr. Br. at

12. The government’s construction language is based on patentee’s prosecution statement “[t]he

merchant comparison information data is the actual data on the merchant or their product or

services.” Gov’t’s Op. Cl. Constr. Br. at 12 (citing the 25 August 2004 RCE of the ‘429 patent at

7).

Based on the claim language and the specification, the Court’s preliminary construction

adopted the government’s position that construction of this term “requires that the data be

specific to the particular merchant or particular product.” Gov’t’s Resp. Cl. Constr. Br. at 2.

The Court’s preliminary construction also incorporated the language “merchant specific

information” contained in the specification over the government’s proposed language included

from the prosecution history. See Phillips v. AWH Corp., 415 F.3d 1303, 1317 (Fed. Cir. 2005)

(“[P]rosecution history represents an ongoing negotiation between the PTO and the applicant,

rather than the final product of that negotiation, it often lacks the clarity of the specification and

thus is less useful for claim construction purposes.”). The Court’s preliminary construction

further adopted the government’s position that this term should not be construed to encompass

“weighting factors.” See Gov’t’s Resp. Cl. Constr. Br. at 3. Accordingly, the Court proposed to

the parties the term “Merchant Comparison Information” /“Stored Comparison Information” is

construed as “merchant or product specific information not including weighting factors.”

At the commencement of the Markman hearing, the government agreed to the Court’s

preliminary construction in full. See Tr. at 26:2–4; 28:14–17. Plaintiff agreed to the language

“merchant or product specific information” but contended the term does not exclude “weighting

factors.” See Tr. at 11:6–15; 15:10–16:6. Accordingly, after reviewing the Court’s proposed

preliminary construction, the only dispute between the parties was whether “merchant or product

specific information” includes “weighting factors.” See Tr. at 16:1–6; 28:17–25.

2. The Court’s Final Construction

To support the argument “weighting factors” are a part of “merchant comparison

information,” plaintiff relies on certain specification language which implies “weighting factors”

are included in information retrieved from the database in response to a user’s query. See Pl.’s

Op. Cl. Constr. Br. at 9; see also Tr. at 11:21–12:12. Plaintiff also asserts the invention has two

operation mechanisms, including one where “weighting factors” are a part of “merchant or

product specific information.” See also Tr. at 18:15–22; 24:21–25:1 (“I believe [the

specification] shows . . . that the term [“merchant comparison information”] does not exclude

that, and depending upon the implementation allows for [“weighting factors”] to be included in

[“merchant comparison information”] or not, depending upon the implementer.”).

Plaintiff argues the specification “explicitly described [weighting factors] as part of the

comparison information.” Pl.’s Op. Cl. Constr. Br. at 9 (citing ‘429 Patent at col. 6 ls. 34–53

(“the database (10) responds to the server’s request by providing the comparison information,

including weighting factors, to the server”)). During oral argument, plaintiff focused on the

following specification language: “[t]he comparison information . . . includes information

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relating to the merchant and information relating to the product specified in the query, as well as

weighting factors to be applied to this information . . . .” Tr. at 16:7–16; ‘429 Patent at col. 6 ls.

37–54. Plaintiff reads the language as mandating “weighing factors” to be a part of “comparison

information.” See Tr. at 16:20–17:2.

The specification language cited by plaintiff states comparison information includes three

components: “information relating to the merchant,” “information relating to the product,” and

“weighting factors to be applied to this information.” ‘429 Patent at col. 6 ls. 37–54. The first

two components of comparison information are merchant specific or product specific

information, and the third component, “weighting factors,” are values to be applied to

“merchants specific or product specific information.” The specification language separates

“weighting factors” from “information relating to the merchant” and “information relating to the

product.” Accordingly, a plain reading of the specification language does not support plaintiff’s

contention “weighting factors” are a part of “merchant or product specific information.”

Plaintiff also cites Table 1 of the specification to demonstrate “weighting factors” are a

part of “merchant comparison information.” See Tr. at 13:1–10. Table 1 “shows examples of

weighting factors used in comparing and ranking merchants.” ‘429 Patent at col. 8 ls. 15–16.

For example, “time in business” is one of the weighting factors listed in Table 1 under the

category of “history.” Id. at cols. 7–8. Plaintiff argues the specification discloses “time in

business” is an example of merchant specific information used in the invention as comparison

information, thus the weighting factor of “time in business” in Table 1 is merchant specific

information. Tr. at 13:5–6. Plaintiff’s argument, however, is not supported by the specification.

The specification teaches Table 1 is used in step (309) of the invention, “where the weighting

factors are applied to the comparison information.” ‘429 Patent at col. 7 l. 16 – col. 8 l. 8 (“Step

(309) produces an aggregate score for each merchant which is the sum of the weighting factors

applied to the relevant category of comparison information corresponding to the weighting

factor. Examples of weighting factors . . . are discussed in greater detail below in connection

with Table 1.”). While plaintiff is correct “time in business” is merchant specific information,

see id. at col. 5 ls. 62–64 (“FIG. 2E illustrates examples of merchant specific information . . .

including time in business.”), the weighting factor of “time in business” is a value corresponding

to the merchant specific information of “time in business,” instead of being a part of merchant

specific information.

Patentee’s statements made during patent prosecution also support “weighting factors” as

values to be applied to corresponding “merchant or product specific information.” See supra

Section III(A)(2) for the relevant prosecution history describing the use of weighting factors in

calculating merchant scores. As explained in the prosecution history, weighting factors

“represent the relative importance of a category of merchant comparison information data.” Id.

The invention operates by multiplying a weighting factor of a category with the corresponding

merchant data in that category to produce an aggregate score for each category, followed by

adding all categories’ aggregate scores to have a Merchant Score for that merchant, and then

ranking merchants based on their Merchant Scores. See id. Patentee created a formula to

represent how the invention works, which shows “weighting factor 1” and “merchant data from

category 1” are two numbers to be multiplied together. See id. Accordingly, the prosecution

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history does not support plaintiff’s argument that “weighting factors” are a part of “merchant or

product specific information.”

As discussed supra in Section III(A)(2), plaintiff contends the specification supports both

scenarios where comparison information does or does not include “weighting factors.” See Pl.’s

Reply Cl. Constr. Br. at 2. Plaintiff supplemented this position during oral argument by asserting

the invention has two operations: one is the mechanism presented by patentee during

prosecution, and the other a multi-tier mechanism where one group of weighting factors are

applied to another group of weighting factors. See Tr. at 18:15–16 (“So weighting factors can be

used in more than one way.”); 19:2–5 (“And that [embodiment] gives an indication there that

you can use weighting factors to modify other weighting factors, if you will, in a multitiered

comparison by having weighting factors as a form of comparison of each.)”; 24:21–25:1 (“I

believe [the specification] shows . . . that the term [“merchant comparison information”] does

not exclude that, and depending upon the implementation allows for [“weighting factors”] to be

included in [“merchant comparison information”] or not, depending upon the implementer.”). 4

According to plaintiff, “weighting factors” are a part of “merchant or product specific

information” in the second operation. See id.

Unlike the first operation method which has ample support and discussion in the

specification and prosecution history, plaintiff cannot specify sufficient intrinsic evidence

teaching the second method. 5 Plaintiff does not contend there are two types of “weighting

factors.” See Tr. at 24:7–17. Plaintiff alleges the invention encompasses two operation

mechanisms, including one where “weighting factors” are a part of “merchant or product specific

information.” See Tr. at 18:15–16; 19:2–5; 24:21–25:1. Regarding this second operation,

however, plaintiff does not cite specific intrinsic evidence. See Tr. at 24:7–17. Additionally,

plaintiff agrees “merchant or product specific information” is a proper construction of the term

“Merchant Comparison Information” / “Stored Comparison Information.” See Tr. at 11:6–15;

15:10–16:6. Even assuming the invention has a second operation method in which one

“weighting factor” is applied to another “weighting factor,” both weighting factors are still

values corresponding to a category of “merchant or product specific information.” A weighting

factor cannot be “merchant specific” or “product specific” when it is a value being applied to one

category of information from every merchant or product.

C. Court’s Construction

4

During oral argument, when asked if the invention functions as “multiplying weighting factors with corresponding

merchant data to receive a number for each category and then adding all categories together,” counsel for plaintiff

stated: “[s]o weighting factors can be used in more than one way. They can be used as comparison information,

and they then are also or can also be used as the items that - - where you do this multiplication and then resulting

summing. So you can have those weighting factors as something that can be an input to the comparison or as input

by virtue of the comparison information.” Tr. at 17:22–18:22.

5

During oral argument, when asked whether the specification supports two scenarios “where weighting factors are

or are not included in merchant comparison information,” plaintiff’s counsel relied on language in column 6 of the

‘429 patent and Table 1 in column 8 of the ‘429 patent. Tr. at 24:7–17. As discussed supra, the Court finds the

specification at column 6:37–54 and Table 1 are not sufficient to prove “weighting factors” are a part of “merchant

comparison information.”

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As agreed by the parties during the Markman hearing, “Merchant Comparison

Information” / “Stored Comparison Information” should be construed as “merchant or product

specific information.” The only dispute between the parties is whether “merchant or product

specific information” includes “weighting factors.” See Tr. at 11:1–6; 28:17–25. Intrinsic

evidence, including the claim language, the specification, and the prosecution history,

demonstrates “weighting factors” are not a part of “merchant or product specific information.”

Phillips, 415 F.3d at 1317 (“[W]hile extrinsic evidence can shed useful light on the relevant art,

we have explained that it is less significant than the intrinsic record in determining the legally

operative meaning of claim language.” (internal quotation marks omitted)); see also C.R. Bard,

Inc. v. U.S. Surgical Corp., 388 F.3d 858, 862 (Fed. Cir. 2004), Vanderlande Indus. Nederland

BV v. Int’l Trade Comm’n, 366 F.3d 1311, 1318 (Fed. Cir. 2004); AstraZeneca AB v. Mutual

Pharm. Co., 384 F.3d 1333, 1337 (Fed. Cir .2004). Accordingly, the Court construes the term

“Merchant Comparison Information” / “Stored Comparison Information” to be “merchant or

product specific information not including weighting factors.”

Plaintiff’s Proposed Construction The Government’s Proposed Construction

No construction necessary “the actual data on the merchant or the

product”

Alternatively, “information used to compare

products or merchants”

Court’s Construction

merchant or product specific information not including weighting factors

IV. Disputed Claim Term #4a: “Non-Opinion Data”

Plaintiff’s Proposed Construction The Government’s Proposed Construction

No construction necessary. “factual data or information that excludes data

based on survey information, opinion

Alternatively, “objective or statistical information, evaluation ratings by another

information (i.e., not subjective judgments entity or person, or weights entered by an

like ‘expert evaluations’)” 6 entity or person other than the consumer”

Plaintiff lists this disputed term in the following claims: claims 1 and 8 of the ‘429

patent, claims 2, 15, and 26 of the ‘041 patent, and claims 2, 14, and 29 of the ‘779 patent. Pl.’s

Op. Cl. Constr. Br. at 10. For example, claim 1 of the ‘429 patent recites “wherein the merchant

comparison information data includes non-opinion data.” The ‘429 patent at 22:37–38

(emphasis added).

As discussed supra in Section II(C), the Court split Term #4 in the parties’ Joint Claim

Construction Statement into Term #4a and Term #4b. During the Markman hearing, the parties

agreed to the Court’s approach of construing Term #4a and Term #4b as two discrete terms. See

Tr. at 36:12–22.

6

Plaintiff argues the term should include statistical information and does not need to be construed, but plaintiff does

not state in the opening brief regarding why the alternate construction is “objective or statistical information (i.e.,

not subjective judgments like ‘expert evaluations’).” Pl.’s Op. Cl. Constr. Br. at 10.

- 19 -

A. Parties’ Arguments

The parties dispute whether “non-opinion data” has the same meaning as “merchant

comparison information excluding opinion data and survey result data” / “merchant comparison

information excludes information obtained from surveys and information specifying the opinion

of a person” (the latter two collectively “the terms excluding opinion data”). See Exhibit A of

Joint Claim Construction Statement, ECF No. 49-a at 2–3. Plaintiff disagrees with the

government’s “one-size-fits-all” construction for the three terms, arguing the same construction

for all three terms “improperly rewrites the claims.” Pl.’s Resp. Cl. Constr. Br. at 13. Plaintiff

does not dispute all three limitations were added during prosecution to “distinguish the present

claimed invention from the opinion systems of [prior art].” Id. Plaintiff, however, asserts the

amendments should be applied to each claim differently as demonstrated by patentee’s statement

during prosecution. Id. at 14 (citing Response to Office Action for U.S. Application No.

09/290,006 (Issued as U.S. Pat. No. 7,302,429) Dated 18 April 2005 (“the 18 April 2005 ROA of

the ‘429 patent”) at 9–10). Plaintiff argues “[the patentee’s] claim amendments added

substantially different limitations to clarify a fundamental distinction over the prior art expressed

in various different claims having different scope, [which] manifest the inventor’s intent to claim

different inventions using different language resulting in claims having different scope.” Id. at

15.

Plaintiff contends the term “non-opinion data” does not need to be construed, or,

alternatively, means “objective or statistical information (i.e., not subjective judgments like

‘expert evaluations’).” Pl.’s Op. Cl. Constr. Br. at 10. Plaintiff disputes the meaning of “survey

information” and objects to the government’s exclusion of “survey information” from non-

opinion data. Id. Plaintiff maintains non-opinion data should not exclude survey information,

because the patent and prosecution history distinguish “survey information” from “opinion data.”

See id. Plaintiff cites the language of claims 17 and 18 of the ‘429 patent as “mak[ing] clear that

survey result data and opinion data are two different things.” Id. at 10–11 (citing ‘429 Patent at

cols. 24:29–34 and 25:1–3) (claim 17 reciting “merchant comparison information excluding

opinion data and survey result data;” and claim 18 reciting “merchant comparison information

excludes information obtained from surveys and information specifying the opinion of a

person.”). Plaintiff contends the specification “describes ‘prior purchaser and consumer

feedback information (274),’ [which is a type of survey information], as comparison information

supplied by third parties.” Id. at 11 (citing ‘429 Patent at col. 6 ls. 11–25). Plaintiff asserts,

based on prosecution history, opinion data means “‘expert’ opinions (i.e., professional reviews)

such as those that were substituted for ‘needs, priorities, and preferences’ of the consumer in

[prior art], while “[s]urvey information, however, does not include so-called expert opinions.”

Id. at 11–12.

Plaintiff alleges the government’s construction excludes embodiments of the

specification. Pl.’s Resp. Cl. Constr. Br. at 17. According to plaintiff, usage of survey

information and evaluation rating by another are within the scope of the claims and are embodied

in the specification: “Figure 2G describes an exemplary set of ‘merchant specific information

collected by third parties’ including ‘merchant service rating 281,’ and ‘history of customer

- 20 -

complaints 283,’” and “‘boycott information 285,’” and Figure 2F “describes ‘prior purchaser

and consumer feedback information’ as a type of comparison information.” Id.

Plaintiff argues the government wrongly applies prosecution history disclaimer in its

construction because “[t]he prosecution history does [not] reflect statements of unambiguous

surrender of claim scope.” Id. at 15. According to plaintiff, “survey result data and information

obtained from surveys are explicitly excluded in ‘429 claims 17 and 18,” but these exclusions are

only for claims 17 and 18 of the ‘429 patent and “should [not] be read into ‘non-opinion data.’”

Id. at 16. Plaintiff asserts the prosecution history distinguishes between opinion information and

survey information. Id. (citing the 18 April 2005 ROA of the ‘429 patent at 9 (“the claims have

been amended to specifically recite merchant data in a manner that could not be interpreted to

cover survey information, opinion information, or ‘evaluation ratings.’”)). Plaintiff maintains

“the distinction of [prior art from the current claims] was based upon how survey information

was used (and manipulated) exclusively [in the prior art] rather than the fact that survey

information was used [in the prior art but not included in the current claims].” Id. Plaintiff

further explains in its reply brief how the patentee distinguished prior art, BizRate and Geller,

during prosecution: “BizRate used only opinion data for ranking,” and “Geller used only ‘expert

evaluation ratings’ to generate a rank, not ‘actual information.’” Pl.’s Reply. Cl. Constr. Br. at 7

(citing Request for Continued Examination under 37 C.F.R. §1.114 for U.S. Application No.

09/290,006 (Issued as U.S. Pat. No. 7,302,429) Dated 22 January 2007 (“the 22 January 2007

RCE of the ‘429 patent”) at 7–8). According to plaintiff, “neither of these distinctions [between

prior art and the current claims] ruled out using transparent, reliable survey data. Where

[patentee] intended to exclude all survey data, he explicitly claimed it (in ‘429 claims 17 and

18).” Id.

The government’s construction primarily relies on the prosecution history of the ‘429

patent. See Gov’t’s Op. Cl. Constr. Br. at 19–23. The government argues the requirement of

“factual data or information” reflects patentee’s statement made during prosecution to

distinguish prior art: “patentee argues ‘there is a qualitative difference between asking an

opinion of another person who will provide their opinion of your needs and preferences,’ i.e. the

system disclosed in [prior art], and ‘actually being able to check facts and weight the importance

of facts to make an objective determination according to a buyer’s own priorities,’ i.e. the alleged

invention of the Asserted Patents.” Id. at 19.

The government construes “non-opinion data” as having the same scope as “merchant

comparison information excluding opinion data and survey result data” / “merchant comparison

information excludes information obtained from surveys and information specifying the opinion

of a person” in view of patentee’s statements during prosecution of the ‘429 patent. See id. at

18–19. In particular, the government alleges the patentee “repeatedly and expressly” excluded

“survey information, opinion information, evaluation ratings by another entity or person, or

weights entered by an entity or person other than the consumer” from all the three terms. Id. at

20. The government cites the following prosecution statements to support its position:

Prosecution History Patentee’s Statements (all emphasis original from the

government’s brief)

- 21 -

The 18 April 2005 ROA Applicant amended the claims “[t]o clarify this distinction over

of the ‘429 patent at 9. the Geller reference and the Bizrate.com refences,” that the

recited merchant data did not “cover survey information, opinion

information, or ‘evaluation ratings.’”

The 18 April 2005 ROA “As specified in the claims (as amended), data of a merchant

of the ‘429 patent at 11. specifically excludes opinion data and weights entered by a

second person.”

The 18 April 2005 ROA distinguishing Geller because it multiplies the consumer-selected

of the ‘429 patent at 8. weight by a “product evaluation rating,” which is “a number

entered by a second person . . . , which expresses the ‘expert’s

[sic] opinion on how well the product fits a desired attribute or

answers a question.”

The 22 January 2007 RCE distinguishing Bizrate.com because it “actually refers to opinions

of the ‘429 patent at 7–8. of previous customers or staff held regarding the price they paid

or their opinion on availability of the product” rather than “the

use of actual price or other nonopinion [sic] data in the ranking of

merchants.”

The 22 January 2007 RCE distinguishing Geller because “the evaluation rating represents

of the ‘429 patent at 9. the expert’s opinion’ [sic] on what the consumer needs or wants,

and does not correspond to actual information on the product.”

Response to Notice of distinguishing Bizrate.com because it relied on ratings and

Non-Compliant evaluations from customers or Bizrate.com staff in the ranking

Amendment for U.S. process, rather than “the use of actual price or other nonopinion

Application No. [sic] data in the ranking of merchants.”

09/290,006 (Issued as

U.S. Pat. No. 7,302,429)

Dated 4 June 2007 (“the 4

June 2007 Response of

the ‘429 patent”) at 19.

The 4 June 2007 “The evaluation rating represents the expert’s opinion on what

Response of the ‘429 the consumer needs or wants, and does not correspond to actual

patent” at 21. information on the product.”

Id. at 20–21 (emphasis in original).

The government asserts non-opinion data cannot encompass survey information, because

patentee added the limitation of “non-opinion data” during prosecution to “distinguish the

present claimed invention from the opinion systems of BizRate.com,” and BizRate is a reference

patentee described as “us[ing] customer satisfaction surveys as the foundation of a business

reputation system that it presents to buyers.” Id. at 23 (citing the 18 April 2005 ROA of the ‘429

patent at 9–10; the 22 January 2007 RCE of the ‘429 patent at 8–9) (emphasis original).

According to the government, patentee amended the claims during prosecution to distinguish the

- 22 -

prior art in a way that meant the claims “could not be interpreted to cover survey information,

opinion information, or ‘evaluation ratings.’” Id. (emphasis in original) (internal citation

omitted). The government also argues the patentee expressly distinguished survey response data

from “objective information” by referencing them as two separate terms. Id. at 23–24 (citing the

25 August 2004 RCE of the ‘429 patent at 10 (“This example uses both objective data (price and

time to delivery) and survey response data (ease of return rating) for merchant comparison

information data.”). The government claims plaintiff’s construction would improperly

encompass BizRate.com which patentee sought to distinguish, as “patentee specifically

characterized Bizrate.com as using opinion data because of its use of consumer feedback.”

Gov’t’s Resp. Cl. Constr. Br. at 12–13.

The government argues “patentee did not distinguish Bizrate [sic] because of how the

survey information was used, but rather because survey information is in itself opinion data.”

Gov’t’s Reply Cl. Constr. Br. at 15. The government also contends its reliance on prosecution

history to construe the terms “does not implicate prosecution history disclaimer.” Id. at 15–16.

According to the government, “[t]he term ‘opinion data’ does not have a generally agreed-upon

definition, and the specification never uses, much less discusses, the words ‘opinion’ or ‘non-

opinion,’” thus the government is relying on “the prosecution history, and patentee’s own

explanations of the terms, to understand the meaning of the claim language.” Id. at 16. The

government further notes patentee relies on the wrong Response in its argument: “[p]laintiff

cites to the patentee’s August 30, 2004 Request for Continued Examination for its

characterization of the distinction over Bizrate [sic], but the relevant amendments adding the

limitations, and accompanying argument, were not made until patentee’s April 21, 2005

Response.” Id. (internal citation omitted).

According to the government, the Federal Circuit has repeatedly noted “the claims of the

patent need not encompass all disclosed embodiments.” Gov’t’s Reply Cl. Constr. Br. at 17

(citing e.g., TIP Sys., L.L.C. v. Phillips & Brooks/Gladwin, Inc., 529 F.3d 1364, 1373 (Fed. Cir.

2008) (“Our precedent is replete with examples of subject matter that is included in the

specification, but is not claimed.”)). The government alleges “[p]laintiff’s reliance on Sandisk

Corp. v. Memorex Prods., Inc. is misplaced” because this decision “addressed the exclusion of

preferred embodiments, not the exclusion of any embodiments generally.” Id. (citing Sandisk

Corp. v. Memorex Prods., Inc., 415 F.3d 1278, 1285 (Fed. Cir. 2005)) (emphasis original). The

government argues “Figures 2F and 2G are described merely as ‘examples’ of merchant

comparison information that may be used, and are not preferred embodiments.” Id. (internal

citation omitted).

B. Analysis

1. The Court’s Preliminary Construction

Before the Markman hearing, the Court provided the parties with the Court’s preliminary

construction. Tr. at 7:9–17. In reaching the preliminary construction, the Court considered both

parties’ claim construction briefs and all referenced materials in full.

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The government proposes “non-opinion data” is construed to be “factual data or

information that excludes data based on survey information, opinion information, evaluation

ratings by another entity or person, or weights entered by an entity or person other than the

consumer.” Gov’t’s Op. Cl. Constr. Br. at 18–19. The government argues the requirement of

“factual data or information” reflects patentee’s statements during prosecution to distinguish

prior art. See id. Plaintiff’s reply brief agrees “non-opinion data” should be factual data or

information. See Pl.’s Resp. Cl. Constr. Br. at 17. Accordingly, the Court’s preliminary

construction adopted the government’s construction as “non-opinion data” is “factual data or

information” with certain exclusions.

The parties’ claim construction briefs focus their dispute on whether “survey

information” should be excluded from “non-opinion data.” Plaintiff argues neither the

specification nor the prosecution history supports excluding “survey information” from “non-

opinion data.” See Pl.’s Resp. Cl. Const. Br. at 15–17. The government asserts “survey

information” should be excluded because patentee distinguished the prior art by removing usage

of “survey information” from the claim scope. See Gov’t’s Op. Cl. Constr. Br. at 19. The

Court’s preliminary construction adopted plaintiff’s position that “survey information” should

not be excluded from “non-opinion data.”

The Court’s preliminary construction for this term was “factual data or information that

excludes data based on opinion information, evaluation ratings by another entity or person or

weight[s] entered by an entity or person other than the consumer.” Tr. at 7:13–17. The Court’s

preliminary construction adopted the government’s proposed language but removed “survey

information” from the list of exclusions.

At the commencement of discussing this term during the Markman hearing, plaintiff

proposed to clarify “weights entered by an entity or person other than the consumer” as “fixed

weights entered by an entity or person other than the consumer.” Tr. at 55:10–13. The

government accepted the plaintiff’s proposed change to “fixed weights entered by an entity or

person other than the consumer.” Tr. at 55:21–56:9. Plaintiff agreed to the revised preliminary

construction, “factual data or information that excludes data based on opinion information,

evaluation ratings by another entity or person, or fixed weights entered by an entity or person

other than the consumer,” in entirety. See Tr. at 56:9–12. The government agreed to the

language of the Court’s revised preliminary construction. See Tr. at 38:9–16; 55:21–56:2. The

government, however, insists “survey information” should be excluded from “non-opinion data.”

Id. Accordingly, after reviewing the Court’s proposed preliminary construction, the only dispute

between the parties is whether “non-opinion data” excludes “survey information.”

2. The Court’s Final Construction

a. Embodiments in the Specification

The parties dispute whether “survey information” should be excluded from “non-opinion

data.” See Tr. at 38:9–16; 56:13–15. The government argues “survey information” cannot be

included in “non-opinion data” because patentee distinguished “survey information” from “non-

opinion data” during prosecution to overcome the prior art. See Gov’t’s Op. Cl. Constr. Br. at

- 24 -

20–21. Plaintiff alleges a construction excluding “survey information” from “non-opinion data”

improperly eliminates embodiments disclosed in the specification. Pl.’s Resp. Cl. Constr. Br. at

17.

There is little guidance from the specification regarding the scope of “non-opinion data”

as the specification neither defines nor explains what “non-opinion data” is. Indeed, the term

“non-opinion data” does not appear once in the specification. Certain embodiments included in

the specification, though not explicitly delineating the scope of “non-opinion data,” help describe

what the inventor considers as “non-opinion data” used in the invention. See the ‘429 patent at

14: 48–49 (“Examples of comparison information items are illustrated in FIGS. 2A-2G.”).

Figure 2F illustrates examples of information “collected or created by third party agencies and

institutions including product evaluation and testing by third parties” and “prior purchaser and

consumer feedback information.” Id. at 6:11–25. Figure 2G describes an exemplary set of

“merchant specific information collected or created by third party agencies” including

“merchant’s service rating,” and “history of complaints by customers,” and boycott information.

Id. at 6:26–33.

According to plaintiff, Figures 2F and 2G embody the usage of survey information. Pl.’s

Resp. Cl. Constr. Br. at 17. If “non-opinion data” is construed to exclude survey information, the

construction would improperly exclude the two embodiments of Figures 2F and 2G. Id. (citing

SanDisk Corp. v. Memorex Prods., Inc., 415 F.3d 1278, 1285 (Fed. Cir. 2005) (“[a] claim

construction that excludes a preferred embodiment . . . ‘is rarely, if ever correct.’”)). The

government does not dispute the embodiments of Figures 2F and 2G use survey information, or

its proposed construction would exclude the two embodiments. See Gov’t’s Reply Cl. Constr.

Br. at 17. The government argues the exclusion of embodiments in Figures 2F and 2G is not

improper because SanDisk “specifically addressed the exclusion of preferred embodiments, not

the exclusion of any embodiments generally,” while “Figures 2F and 2G are described merely as

‘examples’ of merchant comparison information.” Id. (emphasis original). According to the

government, the Federal Circuit has noted “the claims of the patent need not encompass all

disclosed embodiments.” Id. (quoting TIP Sys., L.L.C. v. Phillips & Brooks/Gladwin, Inc., 529

F.3d 1364, 1373 (Fed. Cir. 2008) (“Our precedent is replete with examples of subject matter that

is included in the specification, but is not claimed.”)). During the oral argument, plaintiff argued

all embodiments disclosed in the specification should correspond to the scope of certain

claims—patentee would not have included the two embodiments exemplifying usage of survey

information in the specification if patentee did not intend the invention to use survey

information. Tr. at 62:2–16.

In TIP Sys., L.L.C. v. Phillips & Brooks/Gladwin, Inc., the Federal Circuit construed the

terms “earpiece . . . and the mouthpiece . . . permanently extend[ing] out through the front wall”

and “mouthpiece ... and ... earpiece extending outward from said housing.” 529 F.3d at 1372.

TIP contended the district court erred in not construing the terms broadly enough to encompass

earpieces and mouthpieces inside the wall. Id. TIP asserted the broad construction was

supported by an alternative embodiment wherein “aural communication to earpiece and

mouthpiece is afforded through a sound transparent section of housing front wall, such as a

plurality of small holes.” Id. The Federal Circuit found “[t]he most natural reading of the claim

language . . . is that the earpiece and mouthpiece project out from the wall of the housing,” thus

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“to construe the claim term to encompass the alternative embodiment in this case would

contradict the language of the claims.” Id. at 1373. Accordingly, the Federal Circuit held “the

mere fact that there is an alternative embodiment disclosed in the patent that is not encompassed

by district court’s claim construction does not outweigh the language of the claim, especially

when the court’s construction is supported by the intrinsic evidence.” Id. (citing Schoenhaus v.

Genesco, Inc., 440 F.3d 1354, 1359 (Fed. Cir. 2006) (holding the term “rigid” cannot be

construed to encompass “semi-rigid,” because the “semi-rigid” embodiment in the specification

was insufficient to overcome “the conventional usage of ‘rigid’ by ordinary practitioners in the

field” and the prosecution history does not support the broad construction); Maxwell v. J. Baker,

Inc., 86 F.3d 1098, 1108 n.3 (Fed. Cir. 1996) (adopting a narrower construction because patentee

dedicated certain embodiments to the public by not claiming them in the initial set of claims

submitting to the Patent Office for examination—“this situation is different from that where

prosecution history estoppel might apply, when broader claims were submitted and the claims

were narrowed during prosecution”); Unique Concepts, Inc. v. Brown, 939 F.2d 1558, 1562–63

(Fed. Cir. 1991) (finding no literal infringement because patentee did not claim the element in its

application)).

TIP Sys. does not support the government’s proposal to exclude the embodiments of

Figures 2F and 2G from “non-opinion data.” Rather than the government’s generalized assertion

“the claims of the patent need not encompass all disclosed embodiments,” Gov’t’s Reply Cl.

Constr. Br. at 17, the Federal Circuit’s conclusion in TIP Sys. is a result of carefully weighing the

plain language of the asserted claims and the disclosed embodiments. When a construction is

well supported by intrinsic evidence, the Federal Circuit allows the construction to exclude

certain embodiments if including the embodiments would contradict a plain reading of the claim

language. In other words, excluding embodiments from a claim construction is not a matter of

course and requires strong support. The context of TIP Sys. is not transferrable to the

construction of “non-opinion data.” Here, the government fails to allege any specific support to

exclude the embodiments of Figures 2F and 2G from the construction “non-opinion data.”

Unlike TIP Sys., including the embodiments of Figures 2F and 2G, which use survey information

as comparison information, does not contradict the plain reading of “non-opinion data.”

The government further argues plaintiff’s reliance on SanDisk Corp. v. Memorex Prods.,

Inc. is “misplaced” because SanDisk “specifically addressed the exclusion of preferred

embodiments, not the exclusion of any embodiments generally.” Gov’t’s Reply Cl. Constr. Br. at

17 (emphasis original). In SanDisk, the district court’s claim construction foreclosed possible

embodiments in the specification. 415 F.3d at 1285. The Federal Circuit held the district court

erred in its claim construction because “[its] speculative treatment of the preferred embodiment

is unsupported by the patent specification, not grounded in the record, and contrary to the

reading suggested by all parties.” Id. at 1285 and 1292. The Federal Circuit did not reject the

district court’s claim construction simply because the excluded embodiments are “preferred

embodiments.” Rather, the trial court treated those embodiments speculatively as the trial

court’s reasoning was “unsupported by the patent specification, not grounded in the record, and

contrary to the reading suggested by all parties.” Id. at 1285.

The government reads SanDisk as specifically addressing exclusion of preferred

embodiments. See Gov’t’s Reply Cl. Constr. Br. at 17. During oral argument, the government

- 26 -

argued Figures 2F and 2G can be excluded because the specification does not explicitly label

them as being “preferred,” and “[i]f everything is a preferred embodiment, then nothing is a

preferred embodiment.” Tr. at 64:9–15. The government misreads SanDisk by ignoring the

Federal Circuit’s reasoning. Based on SanDisk, the Court does not need to decide whether the

embodiments of Figures 2F and 2G are preferred embodiments, as the Court’s claim construction

is supported by intrinsic evidence and not treating the embodiments speculatively. The

specification teaches the embodiments of Figures 2F and 2G are “[e]xamples of comparison

information items.” The ‘429 patent at 14:48–49. The parties agree the embodiments of Figures

2F and 2G use survey information in the process of ranking merchants. See Pl.’s Resp. Cl.

Constr. Br. at 17; Gov’t’s Reply Cl. Constr. Br. at 17. Additionally, construing the term “non-

opinion data” to encompass embodiments of Figures 2F and 2G does not contradict a plain

reading of the claim language or any other part of the specification. Accordingly, the term “non-

opinion data” can and should be construed to encompass the two embodiments in the

specification. See PSN Ill., LLC v. Ivoclar Vivadent, Inc., 525 F.3d 1159, 1166 (Fed. Cir. 2008)

(holding the term “can and should be construed in a way that encompasses the preferred

embodiment” because the construction should “neither exclude nor ignore the preferred

embodiment”).

b. Prosecution History

The government asserts the prosecution history “repeatedly and expressly” identified

survey information as being excluded from the scope of “non-opinion data.” Gov’t’s Op. Cl.

Constr. Br. at 20. According to the government, patentee added the limitation of “non-opinion

data” during prosecution to distinguish the claims from “the opinion systems of BizRate.com.”

Id. at 23. Plaintiff contends the government’s characterizations of the prosecution history errs in

at least two aspects. First, the primary distinction of the current invention from the prior art is

“how survey information was used (and manipulated) exclusively [in the prior art] rather than the

fact that survey information was used [in the prior art].” Pl.’s Resp. Cl. Const. Br. at 16; see also

Tr. at 59:14–18. Second, patentee’s prosecution statements should not be treated as disclaiming

the claim scope encompassing using survey information. Pl.’s Resp. Cl. Constr. Br. at 15.

i. Prior Art

“Non-opinion data” first appeared in the prosecution history in the patentees’ response

dated 18 April 2015 to a non-final Office Action. Patentee amended claim 1 as:

1. (Amended Three Times) In an online comparison system, a

method of ranking prospective merchants comprising:

receiving information related to a potential consumer

purchase;

receiving a plurality of merchant comparison information

data for a plurality of merchants capable of completing the

potential consumer purchase, the merchant comparison

information data for a merchant organized into a plurality of

categories, wherein the merchant comparison information data

- 27 -

includes non-opinion data from at least two categories from: price

category . . . .

The 18 April 2005 ROA of the ‘429 patent at 2 (emphasis added) (Underlined language was

added by patentee for the first time in prosecution.). The amendment was prompted by the

Examiner’s non-final Office Acton issued on 16 November 2004 (“November 2004 Office

Action”), in which the Examiner cited BizRate and Geller as rendering the pending claims

obvious. See November 2004 Office Action at 6–7. Patentee distinguished Geller by

characterizing it as a “knowledgebase” system, which “relies upon experts who have entered

information about what the[y] perceive a consumer would find relevant.” The 18 April 2005

ROA of the ‘429 patent at 6–7. Patentee described Geller as “teach[ing] using opinion

information, in the form of expert ‘evaluation ratings,’” and BizRate as teaching “reliance on

survey response data.” Id. at 9. Patentee stated “[t]o clarify this distinction over the Geller

reference and the BizRate.com reference, the claims [1, 8, 17, and 18] have been amended to

specifically recite merchant data in a manner that could not be interpreted to cover survey

information, opinion information, or ‘evaluation ratings.’” Id.

The government asserts construing “non-opinion data” to include “survey information”

would lead to the claim scope improperly encompassing BizRate. Gov’t’s Resp. Cl. Constr. Br.

at 12–13. The government’s conclusion is premised on the assumption the use of “survey

information” is the only difference between patentee’s invention and BizRate. This assumption,

however, is not supported by prosecution history. If “non-opinion data” does not contain

“survey information,” patentee would have successfully removed BizRate as prior art against

claims 1 and 8 by amending them to recite “non-opinion data.” In contrast, the Examiner

maintained the same obviousness rejection against claims 1 and 8 based on BizRate in view of

Geller in the Office Action issued subsequent to patentee’s amendments. See Final Office

Action of the ‘429 Patent Dated 22 August 2006 at 9. Moreover, the Examiner recognized

BizRate differs from patentee’s invention as “BizRate does not explicitly teach the steps of

calculating a respective merchant data weight resultant value . . . .” November 2004 Office

Action at 6. During oral argument, counsel for plaintiff also explained the invention differs from

BizRate in more aspects: BizRate does not “disclose weighting factors” or apply weighting

factors to its use of opinion or non-opinion data; users cannot change any setting in BizRate as

all data in BizRate are “preset” by the system; BizRate uses “only opinion data” whereas the

present invention uses factual data. Tr. at 59:7–18, 69:3.

ii. Prosecution History Disclaimer

Plaintiff contends the government improperly relies on prosecution history to exclude

“survey information,” as, allegedly, “the prosecution history does [not] reflect statements of

unambiguous surrender of claim scope justifying these limitations.” Pl’s Resp. Cl. Constr. Br. at

15–16 (citing Computer Docking Station Corp. v. Dell, Inc., 519 F.3d 1366, 1374 (Fed. Cir.

2008) (“[A] patentee may limit the meaning of a claim term by making a clear and unmistakable

disavowal of scope during prosecution.”). The government contends it is not advancing a

prosecution history disclaimer argument, rather it merely relies on prosecution history to explain

what the term means. Gov’t’s Reply Cl. Constr. Br. at 16. The government, however, maintains

even if the Court is applying the standard for prosecution history disclaimer, patentee’s

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statements during prosecution were a “clear and unmistakable disavowal” of the usage of

“survey information” in this invention. Id.; see also Tr. at 90:2–5.

During the oral argument, the government clarified it was not advancing prosecution

history disclaimer as the primary argument but using it in the alternative. 7 Tr. at 87:17–24.

Plaintiff’s counsel agreed prosecution history can be used to help explain the term without rising

to the level of prosecution history disclaimer. Tr. at 77:7–12. Plaintiff’s counsel, however,

alleged the government’s one-size-fits-all construction for Term #4a (“non-opinion data”) and

Term #4b (“merchant comparison information excluding opinion data and survey result data” /

“merchant comparison information excludes information obtained from surveys and information

specifying the opinion of a person”) was effectively arguing prosecution history disclaimer by

injecting patentee’s surrender made in Term #4b into “non-opinion data.” See Tr. at 76:6–23.

Patentee amended independent claims 1, 8, 17, and 18 in the 18 April 2005 response. 8

See the 18 April 2005 ROA of the ‘429 patent at 3–5. In claims 1 and 8, patentee added “non-

opinion data.” Id. at 3–4. In claims 17 and 18, patentee added “merchant comparison

information excluding opinion data or survey result data” and “merchant comparison information

exclud[ing] information obtained from surveys or specifying the opinion of a person,”

respectively. Id. at 4–5. In its remarks accompanying the amendments, patentee referenced the

claim amendments as a group. See id. at 9 (“To clarify this distinction over the Geller reference

and the BizRate.com reference, the claims have been amended to . . . .”) (emphasis added); id. at

11 (“As specified in the claims (as amended) . . . .”) (emphasis added). Nevertheless, patentee

stated the scope of claims 1 and 8 is different from the scope of claims 17 and 18 as claims 1 and

8 were “amended to emphasize this distinction between consumer preferences and expert

opinions, as well as non-opinion based and opinion-based data.” Id. at 10. In addition to

statements where patentee grouped the four independent claims, patentee also addressed the

amendment to each independent claim individually:

For example, Claim 1 has been amended to include “wherein the

merchant comparison information data includes non-opinion data

from at least two categories from: . . .”.

Claim 14 has been amended to point out that “the merchant data

entry values specifying non-opinion data” . . . .

7

During oral argument, when given time to argue with respect to prosecution history disclaimer, the government’s

counsel stated:

MR. GROSS: Yes, Your Honor. I think initially, I think you are correct that our

position -- I guess I would say it’s in the alternative. But our primary position is

that this is not prosecution history disclaimer.

Tr. at 87:17–24.

8

Claims 1, 10, 14, 36, and 39 were then pending independent claims. Claims 1, 14, 36, and 39 were issued into

claims 1, 8, 17, and 18 in the ‘429 patent. Claim 10 was canceled during prosecution. See Notice of Allowance for

the ‘429 patent dated 28 August 2007 at 2.

- 29 -

Claim 36 has been amended to specify that “the merchant

comparison information excluding opinion data or survey result

data” . . . .

Claim 39 has been amended to specify that “the retrieved merchant

comparison information excludes information obtained from

surveys or specifying the opinion of a person” . . . .

The 18 April 2005 ROA of the ‘429 patent at 9–10.

The government’s rationality for its one-size-fits-all construction of Term #4a and Term

#4b is that patentee treated claims 1, 8, 17, and 18 collectively during prosecution. See Gov’t’s

Op. Cl. Constr. Br at 21. The government, however, ignored the fact patentee deliberately chose

to use different language to amend claims 1 and 8 from claims 17 and 18. The government also

ignores patentee’s statements differentiating the scope of claims 1 and 8 from the scope of claims

17 and 18 as well as addressing the amendment to each independent claim individually. While

patentee intended to exclude “opinion data and survey result data” and “information obtained

from surveys and information specifying the opinion of a person” in claims 17 and 18, patentee

did not do so in claims 1 and 8. 9

Accordingly, the Court finds the government’s reliance on prosecution history for its one-

size-fits-all construction not supported by a comprehensive reading of patentee’s prosecution

statements. As to the government’s alternative argument based on prosecution history

disclaimer, the Court finds patentee did not make a “clear and unmistakable disavowal” of the

usage of “survey information” in claims 1 and 8 by merely referencing claims 1, 8, 17, and 18

collectively in some of its statements. See Aylus Networks, Inc. v. Apple Inc., 856 F.3d 1353,

1359 (Fed. Cir. 2017) (quoting Omega Eng’g, Inc. v. Raytek Corp., 334 F.3d 1314, 1323 (Fed.

Cir. 2003)) (“[F]or prosecution disclaimer to attach, our precedent requires that the alleged

disavowing actions or statements made during prosecution be both clear and unmistakable.”).

C. Court’s Construction

For Term #4a, the only dispute between the parties after the Markman hearing is whether

“non-opinion data” excludes “survey information.” Excluding “survey information” from “non-

opinion data” improperly excludes two embodiments in the ‘429 patent and is not support by

prosecution history. Accordingly, the Court finds Term #4a, “non-opinion data,” does not

exclude “survey information.”

Plaintiff’s Proposed Construction The Government’s Proposed Construction

9

During the oral argument, the government could not explain why patentee deliberately excluded “opinion data”

and “survey result data” as two separate terms in claim 17 if survey information is opinion data. See Tr. at 46:25–

47:8 (the Court asking “if survey information is opinion data, why did the patentee use two different terms in that

claim”). The Court is not persuaded by the government’s answer that patentee’s amendment to claim 1 would not

have distinguished BizRate if survey information is separate and distinct from opinion data. Id. at 47:9–48:1.

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No construction necessary “factual data or information that excludes data

based on survey information, opinion

Alternatively, “objective or statistical information, evaluation ratings by another

information (i.e., not subjective judgments entity or person, or weights entered by an

like ‘expert evaluations’)” entity or person other than the consumer”

Court’s Construction

Term #4a: factual data or information that excludes data based on opinion information,

evaluation ratings by another entity or person, or fixed weights entered by an entity or person

other than the consumer

V. Disputed Claim Terms #4b-1 and #4b-2: “Merchant Comparison Information

Excluding Opinion Data and Survey Result Data” (#4b-1) / “Merchant Comparison

Information Excludes Information Obtained From Surveys and Information

Specifying the Opinion of a Person” (#4b-2)

Plaintiff’s Proposed Construction The Government’s Proposed Construction

No construction necessary “factual data or information that excludes data

based on survey information, opinion

Alternatively, 10 plaintiff’s proposed information, evaluation ratings by another

construction of merchant comparison entity or person, or weights entered by an

information that does not include subjective entity or person other than the consumer”

judgments or survey result data.

Plaintiff lists this disputed term in the following claims: claims 1, 8, and 17–18 of the

‘429 patent; claims 2, 15, and 26 of the ‘041 patent; and claims 2, 14, and 29 of the ‘779 patent

as including. Pl.’s Op. Cl. Constr. Br. at 12. For example, claim 17 of the ‘429 patent recites

“[a] method of ranking merchants in an online comparison system, comprising . . . retrieving

merchant comparison information data of merchants offering said product or service from a

database, the retrieved merchant comparison information data corresponding to the entered query

information, the merchant comparison information excluding opinion data and survey result

data.” ‘429 Patent at col. 24 ls. 17–46. Claim 18 of the ‘429 patent recites “[a] method of

ranking merchants in an online comparison system, comprising . . . retrieving the merchant

comparison information of merchants . . . wherein the retrieved merchant comparison

information excludes information obtained from surveys and information specifying the opinion

of a person.” Id. at col. 24 l. 47 – col. 25 l. 7.

A. Parties Arguments

Plaintiff objects to the government’s inclusion of “factual data or information” in

construing Term #4b arguing it conflicts with how the government construes “merchant

comparison information:” the government’s proposed construction of Term #4b “implicitly”

10

Plaintiff argues “no construction is necessary” for these two terms, and “should the court find that construction is

appropriate,” plaintiff argues the construction of these terms should be consistent with the construction of “merchant

comparison information” when “merchant comparison information” is used as a “stand-alone term.” Pl.’s Op. Cl.

Constr. Br. at 13.

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construes the “merchant comparison information” portion of the term to mean “factual data or

information,” whereas the government proposes the construction of “merchant comparison

information,” as a stand-alone term, is “the actual data on the merchant or the product.” Pl.’s

Op. Cl. Constr. Br. at 13.

The government construes Term #4b to have the same meaning as “non-opinion data.”

See Gov’t’s Op. Cl. Constr. Br. at 18–19. Plaintiff disagrees because “different claim terms are

presumed to have different meanings.” Pl.’s Resp. Cl. Constr. Br. at 13 (citing BASF Plant Sci.,

LP v. Commonwealth Sci. & Indus. Research Org., No. 2:17-cv-503, 2019 WL 1922521, at *7

(E.D. Va. Apr. 29, 2019) (quoting MicroStrategy Inc. v. Business Objects Americas, 238 F.

App’x, 605, 609 (Fed. Cir. 2007))).

The government acknowledges “the language of the terms . . . differs between claims”

but argues Terms #4a and #4b should have the same meaning because “the patentee treated the

claims as having the same scope in its arguments to the USPTO.” Gov’t’s Resp. Cl. Constr. Br.

at 12 (citing Desper Prods. v. QSound Labs., Inc., 157 F.3d 1325 (Fed. Cir. 1998) (holding two

claims reciting different terms have the same scope due to the patentee’s statement during

prosecution despite the differences in plain meaning of the two terms). The government also

alleges BASF does not support plaintiff’s position because BASF holds “the presumption of

different meanings [can be] rebutted” when the two different terms refer to the same thing.

Gov’t’s Reply Cl. Constr. Br. at 13 (citing BASF Plant Sci., LP at *8).

B. Analysis

1. The Court’s preliminary construction

Before the Markman hearing, the Court provided the parties with the Court’s preliminary

construction. Tr. at 7:18–8:2. In reaching the preliminary construction, the Court considered

both parties’ claim construction briefs and all referenced materials in full.

Plaintiff proposes the “merchant comparison information” portion of the terms should be

construed consistently with “merchant comparison information” as a stand-alone term. Pl.’s Op.

Cl. Constr. Br. at 13. The Court agrees the same term should have the same meaning. Phillips,

415 F.3d at 1314 (“Because claim terms are normally used consistently throughout the patent,

the usage of a term in one claim can often illuminate the meaning of the same term in other

claims.”) (internal citation omitted). The Court construes the stand-alone term “merchant

comparison information” as “merchant or product specific information.” See supra. Thus, the

“merchant comparison information” portion of the terms in the Court’s preliminary construction

had the same construction of “merchant or product specific information.” The Court’s

preliminary construction also adopted plaintiff’s position that the terms are clear and require no

construction.

The Court’s preliminary construction of Term #4b was plain and ordinary, i.e., “merchant

or product specific information excluding opinion data and survey result data” for Term #4b-1

and “merchant or product specific information excluding information obtained from surveys and

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information specifying the opinion of a person” for Term #4b-2. 11 Tr. at 7:18–8:2. During the

Markman hearing, the parties agreed Term #4b-1 and Term #4b-2 both are construed to have

their plain and ordinary meaning. See Tr. at 75:10–15, 78:16–79:2. As suggested by the

government and agreed by plaintiff, the scope of “opinion data” in Term #4b-1 is construed

consistently with Term #4a “non-opinion data.” Id. at 80:6–10, 92:16–93:4. Therefore, the

parties have no dispute regarding the scope of Term #4b-1. Id. at 92:25–93:11.

The parties, however, raised a dispute regarding whether Term #4b-2 has the same scope

as Term #4b-1. Id. at 95:14–96:2. In particular, the parties dispute whether “opinion data” has an

identical scope as “information specifying the opinion of a person.” Tr. at 102:6–13. Plaintiff

contends “information specifying the opinion of a person” is “within the set of opinion data.” Tr.

at 92:22–24. The government maintains “information specifying the opinion of a person is

coextensive with opinion data. Those two terms are the same.” Tr. at 95:18–20.

Accordingly, after reviewing the Court’s proposed preliminary construction, the only

dispute between the parties after the Markman hearing is the scope of Term #4b-2, in particular,

whether the scope of “information specifying the opinion of a person” is a subset within the

scope of “opinion data” or the two terms are identical. See Tr. at 95:16–24, 102:6–16.

2. The Court’s Final Construction

a. Whether Term #4b Has the Same Scope as Term #4a

During the Markman hearing, the parties agreed to the Court’s approach of construing

Term #4a and Term #4b as two discrete terms. See Tr. at 36:12–22. As the parties disagree on

whether Term #4a and Term #4b have the same meaning, the Court must resolve the dispute as

part of claim construction. See O2 Micro Int'l Ltd. v. Beyond Innovation Tech. Co., 521 F.3d

1351, 1360 (Fed. Cir. 2008) (quoting Markman, 52 F.3d at 976) (“The purpose of claim

construction is to ‘determin[e] the meaning and scope of the patent claims asserted to be

infringed.’”).

Federal Circuit precedent establishes different claims are presumed to have different

meanings. MicroStrategy Inc., 238 F. App’x at 609; see also CAE Screenplates Inc. v. Heinrich

Fiedler GmbH & Co. KG, 224 F.3d 1308, 1317 (Fed. Cir. 2000), 224 F.3d at 1317 (“In the

absence of any evidence to the contrary, we must presume that the use of these different terms in

the claims connotes different meanings.”), Applied Med. Res. Corp. v. U.S. Surgical Corp., 448

F.3d 1324, 1333 n. 3 (Fed.Cir.2006) (“[T]he use of two terms in a claim requires that they

connote different meanings . . . .”). Based on the plain language of Term #4a and #4b, they are

presumed to have different meanings.

11

The Court’s preliminary construction sent to the parties before the Markman hearing was “merchant specific

information excluding opinion data and survey result data” and “merchant specific information excluding

information obtained from surveys and information specifying the opinion of a person.” During the Markman

hearing, the Court clarified with the parties the Court’s proposed preliminary construction includes “merchant or

product specific information.” Tr. at 84:8–85:1.

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The government relies on Desper to argue different terms can have the same meaning.

Gov’t’s Resp. Cl. Constr. Br. at 11–12 (citing Desper Prods., 157 F.3d at 1336–37). In Desper,

the district court construed “prior to” to have the same meaning as “following.” Id. at 1337. The

Federal Circuit held the district court’s “construction is supported by the written description

because this is precisely how the preferred embodiment of the invention works.” Id. at 1336. In

addition, the Federal Circuit agreed with the district court “the prosecution history tips the

balance in favor of construing ‘prior to’ in the same manner as ‘following.’” Id. at 1337.

Desper is not applicable to construction of Terms #4a and #4b. The government does not

identify any embodiment in the ‘429 patent where “non-opinion data” is precisely used in the

same way as “merchant comparison information excluding opinion data and survey result data”

or “merchant comparison information excludes information obtained from surveys and

information specifying the opinion of a person.” As to the consideration of prosecution history,

patentee amended independent claims 1, 8, 17, and 18 in the 18 April 2005 response. See the 18

April 2005 ROA of the ‘429 patent at 3–5. In claims 1 and 8, patentee added “non-opinion

data.” Id. at 3–4. In claims 17 and 18, patentee added “merchant comparison information

excluding opinion data or survey result data” and “merchant comparison information exclud[ing]

information obtained from surveys or specifying the opinion of a person,” respectively. Id. at 4–

5. Patentee stated the scope of claims 1 and 8 are different from claims 17 and 18 as claims 1

and 8 were “amended to emphasize this distinction between consumer preferences and expert

opinions, as well as non-opinion based and opinion-based data.” Id. at 10. Thus, unlike Desper,

the prosecution history here “tips the balance in favor of” construing Term #4a differently from

#4b.

The government also contends plaintiff’s reliance on BASF is misplaced because BASF

held “the presumption of different meanings [of different terms was] rebutted” by two different

terms referring to the same thing. Gov’t’s Reply Cl. Constr. Br. at 13 (citing BASF Plant Sci.,

LP at *8). The claim in BASF recites “a seed-specific promoter obtained from flax” following

by a recitation of second sequence “non-native to said flax seed-preferred promoter.” BASF

Plant Sci., LP at *8 (emphasis original). The BASF court found the claim language indicates

“seed-specific promoter” and “seed-preferred promoter,” “although different terms, refer to the

same thing.” Id. The BASF court thus held “the presumption of different meanings is rebutted”

by the claim language using “said.” Id. The situation in BASF does not resemble Terms #4a and

#4b here—the claims do not contain such a word as “said” connecting Terms #4a and #4b for

them to refer to the same thing.

b. Construction of Term #4b-2

During the Markman hearing, the parties agreed both terms within Term #4b have their

plain and ordinary meaning. See Tr. at 75:10–15; Tr. at 78:16–79:2. The parties, however,

cannot agree on the scope of “merchant comparison information excludes information obtained

from surveys and information specifying the opinion of a person.” In particular, the parties

dispute whether “information specifying the opinion of a person” has the identical scope as

“opinion data” in Term #4a or is a subset within “opinion data.” Id. at 95:16–24. The

government characterizes the dispute as “a quintessential O2 Micro question of what is the scope

of the claims.” Id. at 86:2–6. The Court therefore must resolve the parties’ dispute on the scope

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of “information specifying the opinion of a person” versus “opinion data.” O2 Micro, 521 F.3d

at 1362 (“When the parties present a fundamental dispute regarding the scope of a claim term, it

is the court’s duty to resolve it.”)

As discussed supra in Section IV(B)(2)(b)(ii), the government’s one-size-fits-all

construction for all three terms in Term #4a and #4b is not supported by intrinsic evidence.

Nevertheless, plaintiff’s claim construction briefs also treated the two terms within Term #4b to

have the same meaning. During the Markman hearing, the Court’s preliminary construction led

the parties to dispute whether the two terms within Term #4b should have identical scope. The

parties agree both terms of Term #4b should have their respective plain and ordinary meanings.

See Tr. at 75:10–15; Tr. at 78:16–79:2. The parties also agree on the scope of “merchant

comparison information excluding opinion data and survey result data.” Tr. at 93:7–21. Thus,

whether the two terms within Term #4b have the same scope depends on whether the plain and

ordinary meaning of “information specifying the opinion of a person” is the same as “opinion

data.”

As agreed by the parties during oral argument, the scope of “opinion data” in Term #4b-1

is construed consistently as in Term #4a “non-opinion data.” Tr. at 80:6–10, 92:16–93:4. The

Court construes “non-opinion data” as “factual data or information that excludes data based on

opinion information, evaluation ratings by another entity or person, or fixed weights entered by

an entity or person other than the consumer.” See supra. Given the parties’ agreement on the

consistent reading for “opinion data” between Term #4a and Term #4b-1, “opinion data” in Term

#4b-1 encompasses “data based on opinion information, evaluation ratings by another entity or

person, or fixed weights entered by an entity or person other than the consumer.” If the Court

accepts the government’s view that “opinion data” has the identical scope as “information

specifying the opinion of a person,” “information specifying the opinion of a person” would also

encompass “data based on opinion information, evaluation ratings by another entity or person, or

fixed weights entered by an entity or person other than the consumer.” This construction

contradicts a plain reading of the language, as “evaluation ratings” and “fixed weights” can be

entered by either a person or an entity. Accordingly, the scope of “information specifying the

opinion of a person” must alternatively be a subset of “opinion data.”

The government further maintains, because it construes Term #4b-1 and Term #4b-2 to

have the same scope, Term #4b-2 should also exclude “evaluation ratings by another entity or

person, or fixed weights entered by an entity or person other than the consumer.” Tr. at 78:21–

79:1; Tr. at 93:7–21. Plaintiff characterizes the government’s contention as a question for

infringement, not a question for claim construction. Tr. at 80:22–81:4 (plaintiff’s counsel: “If

the concern is that the government thinks that we are going to argue on infringement that an

evaluation rating by another entity or person is not the opinion of a person, we are not going to

do that. I mean, that would not be consistent with the claim language.”). The government

disagreed and viewed the dispute as “a quintessential O2 Micro question of what is the scope of

the claims.” Id. at 86:2–6. The Court determines the scope of Terms #4b-2 is broader than Term

#4b-1, as the excluded scope of “information specifying the opinion of a person” in Term #4b-2

is narrower than the excluded scope of “opinion data” in Term #4b-1. Accordingly, the parties’

O2 Micro question is resolved, and if the parties have disputes on whether a particular feature in

the alleged infringing product constitutes “evaluation ratings by another entity or person, or fixed

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weights entered by an entity or person other than the consumer” or “information specifying the

opinion of a person,” that is a question left for future infringement disputes. See O2 Micro, 521

F.3d at 1360 (quoting Markman, 52 F.3d at 976) (“The purpose of claim construction is to

‘determin[e] the meaning and scope of the patent claims asserted to be infringed.’”).

C. Court’s Construction

By agreement of the parties, Term #4b-1 is construed to have its plain and ordinary

meaning, in which the scope of “opinion data” in Term #4b-1 is construed consistently with

Term #4a “non-opinion data.” The parties also agree Term #4b-2 should be construed to have its

plain and ordinary meaning but disagree on whether the scope of “information specifying the

opinion of a person” in Term #4b-2 is identical with the scope of “opinion data” in Term #4b-1.

The Court resolves the dispute by finding the scope of “information specifying the opinion of a

person” is a subset within “opinion data.”

Plaintiff’s Proposed Construction The Government’s Proposed Construction

No construction necessary “factual data or information that excludes data

based on survey information, opinion

Alternatively, Plaintiff’s proposed information, evaluation ratings by another

construction of merchant comparison entity or person, or weights entered by an

information that does not include subjective entity or person other than the consumer”

judgments or survey result data.

Court’s Construction

Term #4b-1 (“merchant comparison information excluding opinion data and survey result

data”): as agreed by the parties—plain and ordinary, merchant or product specific information

excluding opinion data and survey result data, wherein the scope of “opinion data” is

consistent with Term #4a “non-opinion data.”

Term #4b-2 (“merchant comparison information excludes information obtained from surveys

and information specifying the opinion of a person”): as construed by the Court—plain and

ordinary, merchant or product specific information excluding information obtained from

surveys and information specifying the opinion of a person, wherein the scope of “information

specifying the opinion of a person” is a subset within “opinion data.”

VI. Disputed Claim Term #2: “plurality”

Plaintiff’s Proposed Construction The Government’s Proposed Construction

No construction necessary “two or more”

Plaintiff lists this disputed term in the following claims: claims 1, 3, 8, 14, 19, 25, and 29

of the ‘429 patent, claims 1 and 2 of the ‘797 patent, and claims 1–3, 6, 9, 11–12, 15, 26–27, and

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32–34 of the ‘041 patent. 12 See Pl.’s Op. Cl. Constr. Br. at 3. For example, claim 1 of the ‘429

patent recites “receiving a plurality of merchant comparison information data for a plurality of

merchants.” ‘429 Patent at col. 22 ls. 25–56.

A. Parties Arguments

Plaintiff contends “[a]lthough the parties do not dispute [plurality’s] ordinary meaning,”

the construction of “plurality” is not its ordinary meaning of “two or more” in view of the

context. Pl’s Op. Cl. Constr. Br. at 3 (citing Dayco Prods., Inc. v. Total Containment, Inc., 258

F.3d 1317, 1328 (Fed. Cir. 2001) (“[P]lurality, when used in a claim, refers to two or more items,

absent some indication to the contrary.”) (internal quotation omitted); Versa Corp. v. Ag-Bag

Int’l Ltd., 392 F.3d 1325, 1330 (Fed. Cir. 2004) (“[I]n context, the plural can describe a universe

ranging from one to some higher number, rather than requiring more than one item.”)). Plaintiff

argues “plurality” in claim 1 of the ‘429 patent encompasses one or more, as “plurality refers to

the plurality of merchants, not a plurality of data for each of the plurality of merchants.” Id. at 4.

In particular, “the claim does not require multiple sets of data for each merchant.” Pl’s Resp. Cl.

Constr. Br. at 9. Plaintiff’s reply brief tentatively agrees to the government’s construction,

because the government’s response brief “appears to resolve [patentee’s] concern that a strict

application of the Government’s proposed construction would result in this claim requiring

multiple pieces of data from each of the plurality of merchants.” Pl.’s Reply Cl. Constr. Br. at 3.

The government contends “[t]he Federal Circuit has repeatedly held that the plain and

ordinary meaning of the term ‘plurality’ is simply ‘two or more’.” Gov’t’s Op. Cl. Constr. Br. at

15 (citing, e.g., Helena Labs. Corp. v. Alpha Sci. Corp., 274 Fed. App’x 900, 903 (Fed. Cir.

2008) (holding claims reciting a “plurality of stabilizing supports” are not met by product with

“at most a single stabilizing support.”)). The government cites the dictionary meaning of

“plurality” as “the state of being plural,” i.e., “more than one.” Id. at 14 (citing, e.g., Webster’s

New Collegiate Dictionary (9th ed. 1984)). Furthermore, the government argues the patentee

intended “plurality” to have a different meaning than “one or more” because patentee amended

the claims from “the plurality of products” to “one or more products” during the prosecution of

the ‘041 patent. Id. at 15.

The government alleges plaintiff’s construction violates the canon “the same word

appearing in the same claim should be interpreted consistently.” Gov’t’s Resp. Cl. Constr. Br. at

6. (citing Digit. Biometrics, Inc. v. Identix, Inc., 149 F.3d 1335 (Fed. Cir. 1998); Varma v. IBM

Corp., 816 F.3d 1352 (Fed. Cir. 2016)). The government also argues, even assuming plaintiff is

right about the claim encompassing “receiving only a single piece of merchant comparison

information data from each of the plurality of merchants,” the term plurality still means two or

more. Id. at 6–7 (stating “receiving a single piece of merchant comparison information data

from each of two or more merchants would result in receiving two or more pieces of merchant

comparison information data”). The government asserts plaintiff’s argument is “rewriting the

12

Plaintiff’s opening brief lists “plurality” in claims 1–3, 6, 8–9, 11–12, 15–16, 19, 21, 26–27, 32–34 of the ’041

patent. See Pl.’s Op. Cl. Constr. Br. at 3. During oral argument, the government informed the Court the parties had

removed claims 8, 16, 19, and 21 from the list of asserted claims after discussion. Tr. at 103:11–17.

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claim to recite ‘receiving a plurality of merchant comparison information data for each of a

plurality of merchants.’” Gov’t’s Reply Cl. Constr. Br. at 9 (emphasis original).

B. The Court’s Preliminary Construction

Before the Markman hearing, the Court provided the parties with the Court’s preliminary

construction. Tr. at 8:3–6. In reaching the preliminary construction, the Court considered both

parties’ claim construction briefs and all referenced materials in full.

The government proposes the term “plurality” should have a plain and ordinary meaning

of “two or more.” Gov’t’s Op. Cl. Constr. Br. at 15. Plaintiff agrees to the government’s

proposed construction provided it does not require “multiple pieces of data from each of the

plurality of merchants.” Pl.’s Reply Cl. Constr. Br. at 3. Accordingly, the Court proposed to the

parties the term “plurality” is construed to have its plain and ordinary meaning of “two or more.”

Tr. at 8:3–6. During Markman, both parties agreed to the Court’s proposed preliminary

construction in entirety. Tr. at 106:12–15. The parties also agreed “the claim encompasses

receiving a single piece of merchant comparison information from each of two or more

merchants,” but the claim is not read “to require only one category of merchant comparison

information.” Tr. at 104:16–23, 106:2–5. After reviewing the Court’s proposed preliminary

construction at the Markman hearing, there is no dispute between the parties regarding the

construction of “plurality.”

C. The Court’s Final Construction

As agreed by both parties at the Markman hearing, the Court construes “plurality” to

have its plain and ordinary meaning of “two or more.”

Plaintiff’s Proposed Construction The Government’s Proposed Construction

No construction necessary* “two or more”

Court’s Construction

Plain and ordinary, “two or more”

VII. Disputed Claim Term #3: “category”

Plaintiff’s Proposed Construction The Government’s Proposed Construction

No construction necessary “a class or division of similar types of

information or comparison data”

Plaintiff lists this disputed term in the following claims: claims 1 and 16–18 of the ‘429

patent, claims 8 and 19 of the ‘797 patent, and claims 6, 11–12, and 32–34 of the ‘041 patent. 13

See Pl.’s Op. Cl. Constr. Br. at 5. For example, claim 1 of the ‘429 patent recites “the merchant

13

Plaintiff lists claims 6, 11–12, 19, 21, and 32–34 of the ’041 patent as including the term “category” in its opening

brief. See Pl.’s Op. Cl. Constr. Br. at 5. During oral argument, the government informed the Court the parties had

removed claims 19 and 21 from the list of applicable claims after discussion. Tr. at 103:11–17.

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comparison information data includes non-opinion data from at least two categories from price

category, product availability category . . . .” ‘429 Patent at col. 22 ls. 37–42.

A. Parties Arguments

Plaintiff contends “categories are simply an organization concept that requires no

construction or redefinition.” Pl.’s Resp. Cl. Constr. Br. at 11. Plaintiff argues the government

improperly injects an “undefined terminology (‘similar types’ of information)” in its

construction, which “practically introduces a qualitative limitation for which the specification

provides little guidance.” Id. Plaintiff alleges the government misunderstood the nature of the

invention as requiring similar types of information in each category. Pl’s Reply Cl. Constr. Br.

at 5. (“[T]he customizable nature of the invention [allows] the consumer [to] categorize

information as she pleases. There is no intrinsic support for a requirement that the consumer’s

preferences must adhere to a similar/class or division categorization scheme.”).

The government contends the term should be given its plain and ordinary meaning.

Gov’t’s Resp. Cl. Constr. Br. at 8. The government identifies the dispute between the parties as

“even when the parties agree on ‘plain and ordinary meaning,’ a dispute can still exist because

the parties do not agree on what that meaning is.” Id. at 8–9 (citing Holmberg v. United States,

124 Fed. Cl. 610 (2016)). The government argues the claim language of various claims in the

asserted patent repeatedly demonstrates there is a hierarchy between “comparison information”

and “category.” Gov’t’s Op. Cl. Constr. Br. at 16–17 (citing, e.g., the ‘429 patent at col. 22 ls.

35–39 (“the merchant comparison information data for a merchant organized into a plurality of

categories, wherein the merchant comparison information data includes non-opinion data from at

least two categories”)) (“The claim language repeatedly distinguishes between ‘comparison

information’ and ‘category,’ with the latter being a grouping of values of the former.”). The

government also cites the dictionary definition of “category” to support its argument. Id. at 18

(citing American Heritage Dictionary (2nd College ed. 1982)) (“Dictionaries define the term

‘category’ as ‘a specifically defined division in a system of classification; class.’”).

B. The Court’s Preliminary Construction

Before the Markman hearing, the Court provided the parties with the Court’s preliminary

construction. Tr. at 8:7–10. In reaching the preliminary construction, the Court considered both

parties’ claim construction briefs and all referenced materials in full.

Plaintiff contends the term “category” needs no construction and should be given its plain

and ordinary meaning. See Pl.’s Reply Cl. Constr. Br. at 4–5. The government agrees the term

should have a plain and ordinary meaning. See Gov’t’s Resp. Cl. Constr. Br. at 8–9. The

government proposes the plain and ordinary meaning of “category” based on a dictionary

definition of “a specifically defined division in a system of classification; class.” Gov’t’s Op. Cl.

Constr. Br. at 18 (citing American Heritage Dictionary (2nd College ed. 1982)). Plaintiff

acknowledges categories are simply “an organization concept,” but plaintiff disagrees with the

government’s construction requiring “similar types of” information in each category. Pl.’s Resp.

Cl. Constr. Br. at 11. Plaintiff maintains the specification demonstrates the invention is

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customizable and does not require placing similar types of information into each category. Pl’s

Reply Cl. Constr. Br. at 5.

Based on its dictionary definition, the plain and ordinary meaning of “category” does not

require “similar types of” information being in one class or division. The government does not

specify sufficient intrinsic evidence to support adding “similar types of” information to the plain

and ordinary meaning of “category.” Moreover, the specification suggests the invention allows

placing different types of information into each category. Accordingly, the Court’s preliminary

construction adopted plaintiff’s position; the plain and ordinary meaning of “category” does not

require “similar types of” information. The Court’s preliminary construction adopted most of the

government’s proposed language except removing “similar types of.”

Before the Markman hearing, the Court proposed to the parties the term “category” is

construed to have its plain and ordinary meaning, which is “a class or division of information or

comparison data.” Tr. at 8:7–10. Both parties agreed to the Court’s proposed preliminary

construction in entirety. Tr. at 107:8–15. After reviewing the Court’s proposed preliminary

construction at the Markman hearing, there is no dispute between the parties regarding the

construction of “category.”

C. The Court’s Final Construction

As agreed by parties during the Markman hearing, the Court construes “category” to have

a plain and ordinary meaning, which is “a class or division of information or comparison data.”

Plaintiff’s Proposed Construction The Government’s Proposed Construction

No construction necessary a class or division of similar types of

information or comparison data

Court’s Construction

a class or division of information or comparison data

VIII. Disputed Claim Term #5: “configured to”

Plaintiff’s Proposed Construction The Government’s Proposed Construction

No construction necessary “programmed to”

Plaintiff lists the disputed term in the following claims: claims 9, 29, 31–32, 34, and 36

of the ‘041 patent. Pl.’s Op. Cl. Constr. Br. at 7. For example, claim 9 of the ‘041 patent recites

the limitation “a database configured to store (a) data related to a plurality of products and (b)

data identifying a plurality of suggested paradigms.” ‘041 Patent at col. 19 l. 40 – col. 20 l. 37.

A. Parties Arguments

Plaintiff argues “configured to” requires no construction because the claim language

explains the term. Pl.’s Op. Cl. Constr. Br. at 7. Claim 9 of the ‘041 patent recites a “database

configured to store” certain data and a “server configured: [among other things] (a) to receive the

stored data . . .; (b) to output, through the internet, to a display screen . . . ; (c) to receive a

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selected paradigm . . . from the consumer. . . .” Id. (citing the ‘041 patent at col. 19 l. 40 – col.

20 l. 37). Plaintiff contends “[a] person of ordinary skill in the art would understand the system

configuration entails data communication that may not require ‘programming’” in view of the

specification. Id. (citing the ‘041 patent at col. 4 ls. 17–20). Plaintiff objects to the

government’s construction as “limiting the various forms of ‘configured to’ … to [a] narrow

‘programed to’ construction.” Pl.’s Resp. Cl. Constr. Br. at 21.

The government contends the term should be given its plain and ordinary meaning, which

is “programmed to.” See Gov’t’s Op. Cl. Constr. Br. at 24–25. According to the government,

“the Federal Circuit has recognized that the plain and ordinary meaning of the term ‘configured

to’ is synonymous with ‘made to’ or ‘designed to,’ in contrast to being ‘merely capable of’ or

‘suitable for.’” Id. at 24 (citing Aspex Eyewear, Inc. v. Marchon Eyewear, Inc., 672 F.3d 1335,

1349 (Fed. Cir. 2012)). The government argues the plain and ordinary meaning of “configured

to” in the asserted patents should be “programmed to,” as the invention is computer-implemented

technology. Id. at 24–25 (“In the context of computers and similar technology, courts have

construed the term ‘configured to’ to mean ‘programmed to,’ as opposed to being merely capable

of perform a task.”) (citing, e.g., Wapp Tech Ltd. P’ship v. Seattle Spinco, Inc., Civ. Action Nos.

4:18-CV-469, 4:18-CV-501, 4:18-CV-519, 2020 WL 1983087, at *19–*20 (E.D. Tex. Apr. 27,

2020) (construing “configured to” to mean “actually programmed to.”)).

B. The Court’s Preliminary Construction

Before the Markman hearing, the Court provided the parties with the Court’s preliminary

construction. Tr. at 7:18–8:12. In reaching the preliminary construction, the Court considered

both parties’ claim construction briefs and all referenced materials in full.

Plaintiff proposes the term “configure to” needs no construction and should be given its

plain and ordinary meaning. See Pl.’s Resp. Cl. Constr. Br. at 19–20. The government

acknowledges both parties agree the term should have a plain and ordinary meaning but contends

the plain and ordinary meaning of “configured to” should be “programmed to.” See Gov’t’s

Reply. Cl. Constr. Br. at 18. As the parties agree “configured to” should have its plain and

ordinary meaning, the Court’s preliminary construction focused on resolving what the plain and

ordinary meaning of “configured to” is.

The government relies on a case from the Federal Circuit recognizing the plain and

ordinary meaning of “configured to” is synonymous with “made to” or “designed to.” Gov’t’s

Op. Cl. Constr. Br. at 24 (citing Aspex Eyewear, Inc., 672 F.3d at 1349). In Aspex Eyewear, the

Federal Circuit construed “adapted to” and found “[i]n common parlance, the phrase ‘adapted to’

is frequently used to mean ‘made to,’ ‘designed to,’ or ‘configured to.’” 672 F.3d at 1349 (citing

Webster’s Third New International Dictionary 24 (1968)). The government further relies on

district court cases addressing the term “configured to” in the context of computer technology to

construe “configured to” in the present case as “programmed to.” See Gov’t’s Op. Cl. Constr.

Br. at 24–25. The government does not specify intrinsic evidence mandating the invention

functions with software programming. As the government solely relied on case law for its

proposed construction and there is no intrinsic evidence to limit the plain and ordinary meaning

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of “configured to” to “programmed to,” the Court’s preliminary construction proposed the plain

and ordinary meaning of “configured to” is synonymous with “made to” or “designed to.”

During the Markman hearing, both parties agreed to the Court’s proposed preliminary

construction in entirety. Tr. at 107:18–108:24. After reviewing the Court’s proposed

preliminary construction at the Markman hearing, there is no dispute between the parties

regarding the construction of “configured to.”

C. The Court’s Final Construction

As agreed by parties during the Markman hearing, the Court construes “configured to” to

have its plain and ordinary meaning, which is “made to” or “designed to.”

Plaintiff’s Proposed Construction The Government’s Proposed Construction

No construction necessary “programmed to”

Court’s Construction

Plain and ordinary, i.e., made to or designed to

IX. Conclusion

The disputed terms are interpreted by the Court in this Claim Construction Opinion and

Order. The Court adopts the construction of the terms as set forth herein. The parties shall file a

joint status report on or before 16 February 2021 to jointly propose a complete schedule for

future proceedings. The Court encourages the parties to contemplate a schedule similar to that of

Judge Albright in the United States District Court, Western District of Texas (Order Governing

Proceedings – Patent Cases, current version).

IT IS SO ORDERED.

s/ Ryan T. Holte

RYAN T. HOLTE

Judge

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