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Let’s hope someone shanks them before then
Another year on Death Row?
04.01.2024 Summons to attend oral proceedings
From 18- 09- 2024 to 19-09-2024
https://register.epo.org/application?documentId=LQGOH24GWSRRLKP&number=EP09742359&lng=en&npl=false
-------------------------------------
04.01.2024 Annex to the communication - opposition
https://register.epo.org/application?documentId=LQGOIHRS1UCGAUY&number=EP09742359&lng=en&npl=false
"In conclusion, it seems at present that none of the above auxiliary request would address all the aspects presently regarded as problematic for the main request without introducing other deficiencies."
Thus, the OD is of the provisional view that none of the request seems allowable.
------------------------
EP All documents: EP2286576
https://register.epo.org/application?number=EP09742359&lng=en&tab=doclist
Nice work, both. I wish I could contribute an opinion, but it really is all French to me. Kudos to you two for the effort.
Interesting to see the volume here of late. Someone seems to be building a position. Four 100k+ share days in the last six over the Xmas period is certainly noteworthy (even though in absolute terms that is clearly still not a ton of money, but it's a lot for this stock).
Victor
That’s a great selection of documents for anyone wanting to know the key points, and well done for finding a free copy of the Markman ruling . Now even those who were reluctant to fork out $5 can read it.
As you say, it would be interesting to have other people’s views.
Lucretuis
Interesting hearing Mr Willis talking about the 108 Patent (below) from page 37 (21) and the ending
Friday, May 26, 2023
Att: 2. 71 pgs Exhibit B - Deposition of Willis,
https://www.pacermonitor.com/case/41847299/Semafone_Limited
96. motion Miscellaneous Relief Fri 12/22 11:39 AM
MOTION Limit The Number of Asserted Patent Claims by PCI Pal (U.S.) Inc.. Responses due by 1/5/2024 (Dority, James)
97. respm Memorandum in Support of Motion Fri 12/22 11:41 AM
MEMORANDUM in Support re96 MOTION Limit The Number of Asserted Patent Claims by PCI Pal (U.S.) Inc..(Dority, James)
Att: 1 Exhibit A - PCI Pal Response 12-13-23 Correspondence_Redacted,
Att: 2 Exhibit B - PCI Pal Response 12-20-23 Correspondence_Redacted
https://www.pacermonitor.com/case/41847299/Semafone_Limited
If you read the whole of this section (6. “Call Processor)
then buy Document 75
https://www.pacermonitor.com/case/41847299/Semafone_Limited
Go to page 3, then read 353 and 357
Also bottom of page 7, UK Court Case
6. “Call Processor
Plaintiff’s construction fails for two reasons. First, while the claim does not consider
whether the call processor’s elements may be located within the network, Defendant’s proposed
limitation (requiring the processor’s elements to be separate from the network) is more consistent
with claim language. The claim describes a call processor. A “processor” is a “thing which
performs a process or processes something”
For the reasons stated above, the Court will find in favor of Defendant’s proposed
construction of the “call processor” term. According to the Court’s construction, the call
processor may be located within a public telephone network so long as it has its own integrated
call and data interfaces connected to and controlled by the processor.
Friday, June 23, 2023
75..MOTION for Reconsideration re Order on Motion for Leave to File, [Motion and Supporting Brief for Reconsideration of the Court's June 22, 2023, Text Order, and in the Alternative, for Leave to File Supplemental Claim Construction Brief] by PCI Pal (U.S.) Inc.. Responses due by 7/7/2023 (Morrow, John)
https://www.pacermonitor.com/case/41847299/Semafone_Limited
Lucretuis
I have picked out a few bits
Found this free download. Looking forward to other views
https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.ncwd.105561/gov.uscourts.ncwd.105561.95.0.pdf
--------------------------------
As you say Lucretuis, this does look "very ominous for Sycurio"
7..The Court has concerns about the validity of the claims in question, particularly as pertains to
enablement.
-------------------
10 Claims 10 and 15 of the ‘108 Patent
Plaintiff cannot have it both ways. The Court will hold Plaintiff to the bargain it made
with the PTO to obtain the ‘108 Patent in the first place. (Doc. No. 67 at 22) (citing Vitronics
Corp. v. Conceptronic, Inc., 90 F.3d 1576, 1582 (Fed. Cir. 1996)). “[T]he interested public has
the right to rely on the inventor's statements made during prosecution.” Fenner Invs., Ltd. v.
Cellco P’ship, 778 F.3d 1320, 1323 (Fed. Cir. 2015). True, the doctrine of prosecution disclaimer
applies only where the file history includes “clear and unmistakable” renouncement or disavowal
of claim scope. Avid Tech, 812 F.3d 1040 at 1045–47. But, here, the Court finds that Plaintiff
did “unmistakably renounce” the scope of the ‘108 Patent by submitting the amended claims
ultimately approved by the PTO. See CUPP Computing AS v. Trend Micro Inc., 53 F.4th 1376,
138283 (Fed. Cir. 2022). Plaintiff cannot now disclaim its prior disclaimer—without which the
11.. The Court finds Plaintiff’s argument on this point unpersuasive. At the claim construction
hearing, counsel for Plaintiff admitted that “[a]s a practicality . . . it’s very hard to believe that
when we’re presenting evidence of infringement, there will not be software involved . . . . And
the exemplary embodiments talk about software that handle it.” (Doc. No. 89 at 101:3–7).
Moreover, Plaintiff’s current argument cannot be squared with its unequivocal representation to
the PTO it was amending all then-pending claims to require functionality of the agent’s
computer. (Doc. No. 67, Ex. E at 12–22); (Doc. No. 70 at 15 n.10).
US11049108
02.12.2020 Applicant Arguments/Remarks Made in an Amendment
https://register.epo.org/documentView?number=US.201916542953.A&documentId=KI7U3RPCDFLYX10
--------------------------
Looking back at this Document reminded me of how many times Dean Willis was quoted by the Pcip team.
Friday, May 26, 2023
67..Responsive Claim Construction Brief by PCI Pal (U.S.) Inc.(Morrow, John)
https://www.pacermonitor.com/case/41847299/Semafone_Limited
Victor
I would be interested in your views on the Markman ruling. In my view, while Sycurio prevailed on the preponderance of minor points, PCIP won on the big point of the definition of a call processor. Sycurio were clearly worried about this after the UK court case as the flurry of US filings after the UK court hearings in June shows. Footnote 7 in the ruling also looks very ominous for Sycurio as the US case progresses. What do you think?
20.12.2023
Processing information over VIOP
https://worldwide.espacenet.com/patent/search/family/060326700/publication/US2022239705A1?q=pn%3DUS2022239705
PCI-PAL
Issue notification
https://register.epo.org/ipfwretrieve?apn=US.202217717500.A&lng=en
EP4226604 - SECURE PROCESSING OF SENSITIVE INFORMATION DURING A CALL
19.12.2023 Application deemed to be withdrawn (non-reply to Written Opinion)
19.12.2023 Claim deemed abandoned
https://register.epo.org/application?number=EP21794916&lng=en&tab=doclist
Sycurio Limited
Pannell House
Park Street
Guildford, Surrey GU1 4HN / GB
------------------------------
EP Citations: EP4226604
Cited in
Publication No.: WO2019073216 [X] PROCESSING SENSITIVE INFORMATION OVER VOIP
(PCI PAL U K LTD [GB]) [X] 1,3,10,11,13,14,20 * page 6, line 5 - line 6; claims 1-11 *;
Publication No.: US2016165061 [X] CARDEASY LTD [GB]
(WESTLAKE COLIN PHILIP [GB], et al) [X] 1,2,4-8,11,12,15-18 * claims 14-26 * * figures 3-6 * * paragraph [0048] * * paragraph [0066] - paragraph [0070] *
https://register.epo.org/application?number=EP21794916&lng=en&tab=citations
Hi Adam
I would love to, but I have recently had two of my post removed that someone reported, (thankfully no midnight post so far) and would face a ban on the next reported post.
------------------------------
I see that Ash Patel, has left Sycurio
ITDS Managed Services’ Post
View organization page for ITDS Managed Services
ITDS Managed Services
1,069 followers
2d
We are excited to announce & welcome leading tech support specialist, Ash Patel to its expanding team.
Ash joins ITDS Managed Services as IT & Service Desk Manager and heads the sales and customer service team based in Crawley.
Read more here:
https://lnkd.in/eGswUCnf
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/itds-managed-services_we-are-excited-to-announce-welcome-leading-activity-7142466877930315777-MYwH
IT & Service Desk Manager
ITDS Managed Services
Dec 2023 - Present 1 month
Crawley, England, United Kingdom
--------------------
Sycurio
7 years 10 months
Head Of Global Support Operations (UK & US)
Mar 2021 - Nov 2023 2 years 9 months
United Kingdom
- Experienced and results-oriented professional with a proven track record in leading global support operations for multinational organizations. Adept at developing and implementing strategic initiatives to enhance customer satisfaction, optimize support processes, and drive operational excellence. Skilled in managing cross-functional teams, fostering collaboration, and delivering exceptional service quality across diverse regions and cultures
- Extensive experience leading support
Support Manager (UK & AUS)
Feb 2020 - Mar 2021 1 year 2 months
Guildford, United Kingdom
Support Team Leader
May 2016 - Jan 2020 3 years 9 months
Guildford, United Kingdom
Technical Support Engineer
Feb 2016 - May 2016.. 4 months
Guildford, United Kingdom
https://uk.linkedin.com/in/ash-patel-90872b11
-----------------------------------------------
June 04 2023
Sycurio
Sycurio’s senior leadership team work to deliver the strategy set by our board and manage all operational aspects of the company, globally.
Ash Patel
Customer Care
Ash heads up Customer Care at Sycurio, a team of dedicated support professionals who deliver exceptional customer experiences and the best in customer service.
https://web.archive.org/web/20230604082329/https://sycurio.com/about/senior-leadership-team
Hi Adam
As the document is 37 pages long, written in legalese and costs a mere $5, why don’t you do yourself what you ask Victor to do? He does enough for this board without being asked to do unpaid work for other people.
Hi Victor - please could you let me know what that document says and what it means in simple English?!?
Thanks!
Interest… that’s the crucial word here. For the first time in this whole ridiculous saga, Sycurio are under time pressure.
Uesday, December 19, 2023
95... 37 pgs order Order Tue 12/19 3:02 PM
CLAIMS CONSTRUCTION ORDER. This case is referred to Magistrate Judge Rodriguez for the entry of an appropriate Utility Patent Pretrial Order and Case Management Plan. Signed by District Judge Max O. Cogburn, Jr on 12/19/2023. (ams)
https://www.pacermonitor.com/public/case/41847299/Semafone_Limited
The Department for Work and Pensions: Secure Card Payment Services Procurement
A Pipeline Notice
by DEPARTMENT FOR WORK AND PENSIONS
Published 19 Dec 2023
Delivery
01 Sep 2024 to 31 Aug 2027
Deadline
01 Jan 1 00:00
Duration
3 year
Value
£6M-£13M
This is a follow up to the previous PIN 2023/S 000-004912 dated 17th of February and the subsequent PIN 2023/S 000-032248; dated 1st of November 2023, with regards to the provision of Secure Card Payment Services (SCPS) for the DWP. Following the completion of the review of the Request for Information responses, following the February PIN, the DWP is proceeding to procure these services. In the PIN of 1st November 2023 DWP had identified the intended issue date for the procurement as 2 January 2024. The estimated launch date is now on or around 29 January 2024. DWP's requirements for SIP Licences has also changed from 9,000 to 11,000, as set out below.
The current DWP provision allows business groups to receive customer payments in a Payment Card Industry, Data Security, Standard (PCI DSS) compliant manner, including an Interactive Voice Recognition (IVR) capability to facilitate payments. The DWP service and SCPS contract currently supports approximately 9000 agents. The current SCPS contract also includes the routing of outbound calls via the PCI DSS compliant service provider.
DWP takes approximately 750,000 card payments per annum, totalling approximately £130m per annum. This is collected by two areas of DWP and Northern Ireland's Department for Communities:
https://bidstats.uk/tenders/2023/W51/812974190
Thanks Lucretuis. I get that their tactic is to make this whole thing go on as long as possible, but at what point do they stop appealing all this and wasting money on lawyers. Are they really going to apply to appeal again? On what grounds given the overwhelming defeat? Surely they now realise that PCIP isn't going to roll over and agree to a low ball offer. The whole thing is becoming more insane by the week.
Interestingly Mr Silverleaf did pipe up to say that the case had been brought by Sycurio/Livingbridge after consulting an expert—and no prizes for guessing who!!!—and the 19th Earl of Devon, who is also a barrister and a partner in Michelmores. The 19th Earl of Devon is otherwise known as Charles Peregrine Courtenay.
So: clearly yesterday doesn’t lay to rest the long-standing claim from PCIP’s board that the case was unfounded and brought for ulterior motive. I am sure that Livingbridge/Sycurio will be breathing a sigh of relief that a member of its team has not yet jumped ship and provided a witness statement that might have given firm evidential footing to PCIP’s board’s claim.
The usually unctuous Michael Silverleaf KC, Sycurio’s brief, was out of sorts at High Court yesterday during the Form of Order hearing in the Sycurio v. PCIP case. Bereft of his junior and constantly pestered by post-it notes from Nick Viney, Sycurio’s CEO, who deigned to turn up to court to witness his firm receive another judicial kicking, Mr Silverleaf never hit his straps.
From the moment, quite early in the day, when he addressed the redoubtable Mrs Justice Bacon as “your Lordship” he was batting on an exceptionally sticky wicket.
Mrs Justice Bacon was visibly unimpressed as Mr Silverleaf and Richard Davis KC, PCIP’s brief, spent the morning bickering over how costs should be calculated for the provisional cost award. It was not an edifying watch. Both men gave the impression of ageing heavyweights. When a task of devilishly difficult mathematical complexity came up—diving 102 by six—neither man had his abacus with him so the calculation was beyond reach.
On the substance of the day, Mrs Justice Bacon refused Mr Silverleaf’s application for appeal, meaning that Sycurio has until 8th January 2024 to file leave to appeal directly with the Appeals Court, should it chose to do so. It would seem that Mrs Justice Bacon is able to read easily Mr Silverleaf’s tell: the strength of his arguments is inversely correlated to their complexity.
On the cost side, because of Michelmores, Sycurio’s lawyers, not doing their job properly and choosing as their key trial witness a non-expert expert, Mrs Penn, whose evidence on technical matters Mrs Justice Bacon rejected at trial, PCIP was awarded part of its costs on an indemnity basis (ie, the standard cost recovery uplifted by about 25%. This is a punishment for poor litigation conduct).
As I didn’t have my abacus with me either, I can’t entirely vouch for the accuracy of what follows. It would appear that PCIP will be entitled to an interim provisional cost award of around £1m, which will paid into an escrow account at their solicitors. This money will be released from escrow to PCIP on the earlier of the Appeals Court’s determination of any application by Sycurio to appeal, or 5th February 2024. Although it would appear that Sycurio will be able to make an application to the Appeals Court to “stay” the release from escrow if its application for leave to appeal has not been determined by 5th February 2024.
PCIP’s KC, Mr Davis, said in court that the whole infringement case was speculative, thin and opportunistic that had been brought for ulterior motives, about which he had hints. But (and obviously) Mr Davis did not have a witness statement from Sycurio/Livingbridge about what these motives might have been. As a result, Mrs Justice Bacon was quick to say that he didn’t need to go there.
What does that say? Update abou the UK court decision filed with the US courts given its close proximity?
18 Dec
Filling by Pci-pal
https://www.pacermonitor.com/case/41847299/Semafone_Limited
Great summary, as always. Hope the FT get ahold of this some day!
“We are responsible for running the vital national IT systems which support health and social care, and the collection, analysis, publication and dissemination of data generated by health and social care services to improve outcomes for patients”.(https://www.england.nhs.uk/about/what-we-do/)
Personally, I think it’s a tad problematic to sit as a deputy chair on such a body when one of your firm’s holdings, expert in data security, has just breached a confidentiality agreement by hearing details about a competitor’s technology, which were obtained by launching UK patent infringement proceedings, based on evidential thin air. But, evidently, it’s OK for NHS England.
And where’s Wotton?
One person who would be able to give a clear insight into Livingbridge’s culture is Ken Wotton. Mr Wotton is managing director, public equity, at Gresham House Asset Management, PCIP’s second largest shareholder with 9.2%, who, rightly, turned down Livingbridge’s hostile bid for PCIP. Mr Wotton knows Livingbridge exceedingly well. From January 2013 to May 2014, he was a partner in Livingbridge EP LLP, and from June 2014 to November 2018 he was a partner in Livingbridge VC LLP. The two designated members of Livingbridge VC LLP were/are Mr Kolade and Ms Egan. Don’t be too shy to give us your views on what has gone on here, Mr Wotton. Other PCIP shareholders would love to hear your unvarnished opinions. Do you not have an ethical duty to call out this type of behaviour. If not, why not?
Cover-up or clean-up?
The smell emanating from 100 Wood Street, Livingbridge’s London HQ, is not a very unpleasant one, and could grow worse as more details emerge. Mr Kolade needs to clean house--and quickly. A scapegoat won’t do.
Roll up, roll up: 10:30am tomorrow The Rolls Building, court 2