System Management Arts v. Avesta Technologies

• Decision Date: 04 April 2001
• Docket Number: No. 97 CIV 8101 RWS.,97 CIV 8101 RWS.
• Citation: 137 F.Supp.2d 382
• Parties: SYSTEM MANAGEMENT ARTS INCORPORATED, Plaintiff, v. AVESTA TECHNOLOGIES, INC. and David Zager, Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Southern District of New York

137 F.Supp.2d 382

SYSTEM MANAGEMENT ARTS INCORPORATED, Plaintiff, v. AVESTA TECHNOLOGIES, INC. and David Zager, Defendants.

No. 97 CIV 8101 RWS.

United States District Court, S.D. New York.

April 4, 2001.

Proskauer Rose by Nancy Kilson, Kenneth Rubenstein, New York City, for Plaintiff.

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom by Edward V. Filardi, Daniel A. DeVito, New York City, for Defendants.

OPINION

SWEET, District Judge.

Defendants and counterclaim-plaintiffs Avesta Technologies, Inc. ("Avesta") and David Zager ("Zager") (collectively, "Avesta") have moved for partial summary judgment, pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56, against plaintiff and counterclaim-defendant System Management Arts Incorporated, and counterclaim-defendants Shaula Yemini and Yechiam Yemini (collectively, "Smarts"), declaring as invalid certain of the claims of the patent-in-suit in this patent infringement action. For the reasons set forth below, the motion is denied.

The Parties

The parties are set forth in the previous opinion of this Court, familiarity with which is presumed. See System Management Arts Inc. v. Avesta Technologies, Inc., 87 F.Supp.2d 258 (S.D.N.Y.2000).

Prior Proceedings

This action was commenced on October 31, 1997, by the filing of a complaint by Smarts alleging inter alia infringement by Avesta of certain claims of U.S. Patent No. 5,528,516 (the "'516 Patent") and U.S. Patent No. 5,661,668 (the "'668 Patent"). Avesta filed an answer and counterclaims on December 7, 1997, denying infringement and asserting counterclaims against Smarts and Shaula Yemini and Yechiam Yemini, seeking inter alia a declaratory judgment that the patents-in-suit are invalid for failure to satisfy the definiteness requirement of 35 U.S.C. § 112 ¶ 2.¹

Smarts later withdrew its claim for infringement of the '516 Patent, leaving the '668 Patent as the only patent-in-suit.

The instant motion was filed on October 16, 2000, and oral argument was heard on December 13, 2000, at which time the matter was marked fully submitted.

Facts

The facts set forth below are gleaned from the parties' Rule 56.1 statements, declarations, exhibits, and other submissions, with any factual inferences drawn in the non-movant's favor. They do not constitute findings of fact by the Court.

The '668 Patent traces its origin to patent application U.S. Serial No. 08/249,282 (the "parent application") filed on May 25, 1994, in the United States Patent and Trademark Office (the "PTO"). The '668 Patent issued from a patent application, U.S. Serial No. 08/679,443, which claimed the benefit of priority of patent application U.S. Serial No. 08/465,754, which in turn claimed the benefit of the filing date of the parent application.

The '668 Patent describes "a method and apparatus for efficiently determining ... the source of problems in a complex system based on observable events." ('668 Patent at 1:17-19.) The patent "has broad application to any type of complex system, including computer networks, satellites, communication systems, weapons systems, complex vehicles such as spacecraft, medical diagnosis, and financial market analysis." (Id. at 1:19-23.)

The '668 Patent notes that "[a]s computer networks and other systems have become more complex, their reliability has become dependent upon the successful detection and management of problems in the system." ('668 Patent at 1:25-29.) In addition, the increased complexity of systems means that "the rate at which observable events occur has increased" greatly, "making problem management more difficult." (Id. at 1:34-37.) For example, when the number of computers in a computer network increases, the complexity of the network and the rate at which problems occur in the network increase at an even greater rate. (Id. at 11:38-44.)

The '668 Patent describes "a four-step process." ('668 Patent at 8:15-16.) One step is "[c]reating a causality data representation of problems and symptoms for the system to be monitored...." (Id. at 8:37-40.) The causality data representation, or causality mapping, "includes data to describe problems, events and their causal relations both within a component and across components." (Id. at 8:40-43.)

The causality mapping "may associate with causal relations probabilities, or other measures of likelihood, that certain events cause each other. It may also associate other performance measures that may be useful in correlating events, such as the expected time for the causal relations among events to happen." ('668 Patent at 8:43-48.) The causality mapping can be used for "specifying, detecting, and identifying exceptional events (such as problems) in a system having observable events." (Id. at 29:30-34.)

Smarts has asserted that Avesta is infringing claims 1, 9, 13, 14, 15, 17, 18, 29, and 31 of the '668 Patent.² Claims 1, 15, and 29 of the '668 Patent are independent claims. Claims 9, 13, and 14 are dependent upon claim 1, that is, they incorporate all limitations of claim 1, and claims 17 and 18 are dependent on claim 15.³

Independent claim 1 covers in pertinent part:

1. A computer-implemented method for use in analyzing events in a system having a plurality of components arranged in a particular configuration each component belonging to one of a plurality of component classes, the method comprising the steps of:

. . . . .

(4) converting the first and second representations into a causality mapping based on the configuration specification, wherein the causality mapping comprises a mapping between events in the system and likely causes thereof.

('668 Patent at 29:57-61, 30:6-10) (emphasis added).

Independent claim 15 covers in pertinent part:

Apparatus for use in analyzing events in a system having a plurality of components arranged in a particular configuration, each component belonging to one of a plurality of component classes, the apparatus comprising:

means for converting....

[certain information] into a causality mapping comprising a mapping between events in the system and likely causes thereof.

('668 Patent at 31:34-38, 50-51) (emphasis added).

Independent claim 29 covers in pertinent part:

A machine programmed with a computer program which receives (i) a set of events ... (ii) a set of propagations of events ... and (iii) a configuration specification ... wherein the computer program converts the set of events and the set of propagations of events into a causality mapping on the basis of the particular system configuration, wherein the causality mapping comprises a mapping between events in the system and likely causes thereof.

('668 Patent at 32:40-42, 48-52) (emphasis added).

Although the word "likely" and the word "cause" appear in the '668 Patent specification, the phrase "likely causes" does not. "Likely" is used in the specification as an adjective modifying the word "problem[s]," as in: "a report is generated indicating the most likely problem or problems based on the observable events" ('668 Patent at 9:18-19); and "a mapping of system symptoms to likely problems, preferably with probabilities corresponding to each mapping" (Id. at 11:41-43). The specification does not expressly define the word "likely."

The term "cause" is used in the specification in the context of describing "events" or "problems" which "cause" other "events," as in: "event 1 causes event 8, which in turn causes event 9" ('668 Patent at 13:42-45); "the causality closure is the union of all observable events the event may cause and the probability it may cause each of them" (Id. at 26:35-38); and "CAUSALITY statement: specifies a problem which may cause a set of observable events...." (Id. at 27:48-65).

"Problems can include faults, performance degradation, intrusion attempts, and other exceptional operational conditions requiring handling." ('668 Patent at 1:28-30.) A "symptom" is "an event that may be observed." (Id. at 13:29-33.) An "exceptional event may be an event that requires some handling ... while a symptom may be an observable event ... caused by the exceptional event." (Id. at 8:24-30.)

The patent includes a number of figures. Figure 2A, a copy of which is attached as an appendix to this opinion, "shows a causality graph of events which may occur in a system." ('668 Patent at 10:6-7.) This causality graph "comprises a set of numbered nodes, each representing an event in the system, and directed edges (arrows) connecting these nodes, each representing a causality relationship between the events at the tail and head of the edge [i.e., the arrow]." (Id. at 12:48-54.) According to the '668 Patent specification, "in FIG. 2A, event 1 causes event 3, which causes event 4, which in turn causes event 5, and so on." (Id. at 12:54-56.) The specification goes on, "[o]f course, event 3 might have other causes, such as event 5, as indicated in FIG. 2A." (Id. at 12:64-65.)

An example provided in the patent of the relationships represented in Figure 2A is: event 1 in Figure 2A may be a disk drive failure in a computer. ('668 Patent at 12:57-58, Fig. 2A.) Event 3 "caused by event 1, may be an error message generated by the computer to which the failed disk drive is attached ... indicating an error message generated by the computer to which the failed disk drive is attached ... indicating the detected disk drive failure." (Id. at 12:59-62.) In other words, the disk drive failure brings about or produces the error message. "In this context, event 1 can be classified as a problem (i.e., it can be fixed), while event 3 can be classified as a symptom caused by the problem." (Id. at 12:62-64.)

Figure 2B, a copy of which is attached as an appendix to this opinion, represents the same information contained in Figure 2A, but "in the form of an incidence matrix." ('668 Patent at 13:3.)⁴ The matrix is comprised of rows and columns, which intersect to form cells. Each row and each column represents an event. Each cell contains a value — Figure 2B uses either "0" or "1" — "indicating...