Clear With Computers LLC v. Tesla Motors Inc

Filing 1

COMPLAINT against Tesla Motors Inc ( Filing fee $ 400 receipt number 0540-4519054.), filed by Clear With Computers LLC. (Attachments: # 1 Exhibit A, # 2 Exhibit B, # 3 Civil Cover Sheet)(Spangler, Andrew)

Exhibit A
U.S. Patent No. 5,625,776

US005625776A
O

United States Patent [19]

[11] Patent Number:

Johnson

[45] Date of Patent:

[54]

5,625,776
*Apr. 29, 1997

ELECTRONIC PROPOSAL PREPARATION

5,056,029 10/1991 Cannon ............................ .. 364/479.03

SYSTEM FOR SELLING COMPUTER

5,072,536

EQUENIENT AND COPY MACHINES

5,099,422

3/1992 Foresman et a1. .... ..

364/401 R

5,117,354
5,212,634

5/1992 Long et a1. ........... ..
5/1993 Washizaki et a1. .

364/401 R
364/400

5,396,417

3/1995 Burks et a1.

5,493,490

2/1996 Johnson ............................ .. 364/401 R

_

[75] Inventor‘ Jmqlfnme D‘ J0hns0n’ North Manmo’

5,241,464

'

[73]

Assignee: Clear with Computers, Inc.’ Mankato.

Minn.

[* ] Notice:

‘

2177245

'

WO85/03l52

[21] Appl. No.: 268,166
[22] Filed:

... . .. 40/587

8/1993 Greulich et a1.

364/401 R
364/401

1%;
glgggalgifggonol?' '
1,1987 United Kingdom.
7/1985

WIPO .

OTHER PUBLICATIONS

Jun. 29, 1994

Bob Gatty, “Setting up Shop on Computer Screens”.
Nation’s Business, Mar. 1984, pp. 57-58.
Lois Schneider, “On Your Screen !”, EPB. vol. 2. No. 5, Sep.
1984. pp. 14—16.

Related US. Application Data
[63]

Matthews et a1. ......

FOREIGN PATENT DOCUMENTS

The term of this patent shall not extend
26153113916116 exp1rat1on date of Pat. No.
’

12/1991

Continuation-impart of Ser. No. 878,602, May 5, 1992, Pat.

_

No. 5,493,490.

_

(L1st contmued on next page.)

[51]
[52]

Int. Cl.6 ........................... .. G06F 17/30; G06F 17/60
US. Cl. ........................ .. 395/227; 395/224; 395/229;

[58]

Primary Examiner__RObe1-t A. weinhardt
Assistant Examiner_Joseph Thomas

Field of Search ................................... .. 364/400, 401,

395/615

Attorney, Agent, or Firm—Merchant, Gould. Smith. Edell.
Welter & Schmidt, RA.

364/402. 403. 408. 419.19; 395/600
'

[56]

'

[57]

ABSTRACT

References Cited
US‘ PATENT DOCUMENTS
4,149,246

An electronic system for creating customized product pro
posals stores a plurality of pictures and text segments to be
used as building blocks in creating the proposal. The pic

4/1979 Goldman ............................... .. 364/400

4,359,631 11/1982 Lockwood et a1. ..
4,553,206 11/1985 Smutek et a1.
4,670,798 6/1987 Campbell et a1.
4,706,212 11/1937 Toma

tllIeS may include various products, environments in which

235/381
395/600
360/12
364/41902

the products may be used, and available product options.
The text segments may include textual descriptions of the
product, environments in which the product may be used,
and its performance speci?cations. The system queries a

364/401

user to determine a customer’s needs and interests. Based

4,775,935 10/1933 YOIIIiCk
Slade .............. ..

‘1,899,292

2/1990 Montaglfa et a1

4’899’299
4’9O5’094

....

2/1990 MacPha‘l ------- "
2/1990 Pocock et a1

upon the answers to the queries, the System Selects the

395/147

appropriate picture and text building blocks to ?ll in pro

" 364/570

posal templates. The system can print the completed pro

358/342

posal templates to provide the user with a customized,

gent” et a1‘
’

’

printed proposal that describes features and bene?ts of a

0mg """" "

4,992,939

2/1991 Tyler

5,041,972

8/1991

product, in a particular environment, that are of interest to

4,992,940

364/401 R

2/1991 Dworkin
Frost

the customer who is to receive the

364/401 R

... .... ... ..

. . . . . . ..

5,053,956 10/1991 Donald et a1.

50

mom @@ Ego @
s2

5:

54

COMPUTER 1

COMPUTER
PERIPHERAL 1

COPY MACHINE 1

/

COMPUTER 2

COMPUTER
PERIPHERAL 2

COPY MACHINE 2

PART 1

COMPUTER
COMPONENT 1

COMPUTER
COMPONENT 2

COMPUTER
COMPONENT 3

COMPUTER
PERIPHERAL
coueousm 1

COMPUTER
PERIPHERAL
COMPONENT 2

COMPUTER
PERIPHERAL
COMPONENT 3

COPY MACHINE
COMPONENT 1

COPY MACHINE
COMPONENT 2

COPY MACHINE
COMPONENT s

PRODUCT

5s

s7 /

5a /
PART 5

-

63 Claims, 43 Drawing Sheets

PICTURE DATABASE

PART 2

5 31

364/401

364/401 R

s1

O

Pr P°

/
TEXTUAL DESCRIP'HONS DATABASE

[@EIEI

5,625,776
Page 2
OTHER PUBLICATIONS
Miriam Rozen. “Electronic stores sell: shoes to cars”. Dun ’s

Business Month. vol. 125. Jan. 1985, p. 101.

Larry Riggs. “Direct Marketing Goes Electronic”. S&MM.
Jan. 14. 1985. pp. 59-60.
“Videodisc Product Serach System Launched for Architects
and Interior Designers”. Wdeodisc and Optical Disk, vol. 5.
No. 4. Jul-Aug. 1985. pp. 244-247.
"I‘ouchcomTM Interactive Videodisc Catalog Markets
Furnisture at Dayton’s”, Videodisc and Optical Disk, vol. 5.

No. 5. Sep.-Oct. 1985. pp. 343-345.

“Boosting Sales Electronically”. Industry Week. Mar. 31.
1986. pp. 33-351 (abstract only provided).
Paul Hurly. Boosting Sales .

.Electronically, Industry
.

Week. Mar. 31. 1986. pp. 33-35.

Emily Leinfuss. ‘"InfoWindow Display’ Shown by IBM at
NCC”. Management Information Systems Week. Jun. 23.

“EPIC Quick Reference Flip Chart”. Buick Motor Division.
General Motors Corporation (1986).

Truck Force Tools Sales and Training System Operator’s
Manual. Ford Trucks. Clear With Computers. 1992.

ISIS Isuzu Sales Information System. Australia. ISIS Opera
tor’s Manual. Clear With Computers. 1992.

Detroit Deisel Corporation. Bus Upgrade System Operator’s
Manual. Clear With Computers. 1990.
WhiteGMC Volvo. TruckMatch Read Me First. Truck

Match. Clear With Computers. 1990.
GM Truck Compass. Read Me First. Operator’s Manual.
Clear With Computers. 1991.
Mary Beth Vander Schaaf. Dealing with Dealers, Automa

1986. p. 25.

tive News. Nov. 21. 1988. p. 67.

Buick EPIC Electronic Products Information Center bro
chure.

Ronnie Telzer. The ‘Silent Salesman’. Marketing Commu
nications. vol. 14. No. 5. May 1989. pp. 20-24.

“How to Make the Most of EPIC”. user’s guide. Electronic
Product Information. Buick Motor Division. 902 East

Hamilton Avenue. Flint. Michigan 48550.

CWC SaIesand Training Systems. Copyright 1993. Clear
With Computers. Inc.. 26 pages.

US. Patent

Apr. 29, 1997

Sheet 2 0f 43

5,625,776

60

ELECTRONIC PROPOSAL TEMPLATE

/
61

PICTURE 1
ENVIRONMENT 2
PRODUCT

2

PART

64

/

PART

65

TEXT 1

/
66

PICTURE 2

TEXT 2

FIG.

US. Patent

Apr. 29, 1997

Sheet 3 0f 43

A

mop
A

mzobswl?

POP

A A
a

A A

mow

5,625,776

US. Patent

Apr. 29, 1997

ACTIVE DATABASE

Sheet 4 0f 43

1 3

A CUSTOMIZEDATA

1_16

A CUSTOMIZEDATABASE

MA

A PROPOSALDATA

112

A PROPOSAL

11.11

FIG. 3

5,625,776

US. Patent

Apr. 29, 1997

/

Sheet 5 0f 43

5,625,776

\

iTABLEOFCONTENTSDAUR‘I
31A

15K

\ '\

,/I

18.9

'\ LIFECYCLEDAT

,/'

J

FINANCEDATA \‘ '\ QUOTATIONDATA \l

US. Patent

Apr. 29, 1997

Sheet 6 of 43

A TABLEOFCONTENTSDATA 1311

A PAGEDESCRIPTIONRECORD

115

FIG. 5

5,625,776

US. Patent

Apr. 29, 1997

DEALERDATA ‘\
m
~ __ _

_ _

_ _

5,625,776

f
U‘LISTOFSALESPERSONSDATA‘
\
3.92

\
I

aX
/

\

Sheet 7 0f 43

-

\

- “I

\

f

I

l

' LANGUAGEDATR“)

LL‘. _ 7‘ \

f,

I‘

CUSTOMIZEDATA

\

m

I’

\

ll
\\

r ’,

\

/

'_

~_

' PASSWORDDATA \'

US. Patent

Apr. 29, 1997

Sheet 8 of 43

USER INTERFACE 1Q;

FIG. 7

5,625,776

U.S. Patent

Apr. 29, 1997

Sheet 10 0f 43

f 105
STATIC DATABASE
ENVIRONMENT PICTURES "\- 122

ENVIRONMENT TEXT''\ 124

PRODUCT PICTURESK 126
PRODUCT TEXT K 128

PRODUCT SPECIFICATIONSX 121

PERFORMANCE SPECIFICATION“ 123
PRICE SPECIFICATIONS"\125

TRADEMARK PICTURE“ 127
LIFE CYCLE SPECIFICATIONS"\129

PRODUCT DESCRIPTIONh 131

FIG. 9

5,625,776

US. Patent

Apr. 29, 1997

Sheet 11 0f 43

[

5,625,776

104

PROCESSES AND GENERATES A CUSTOMIZED PRINTED PROPOSAL / 262
QUERIES ACTIVE DATABASEK 264

QUERIES STATIC DATABASEK 266
READS PAGE DESCRIPTION RECORDS’k 268
READS PAGE LAYOUT IDENTIFIERS'\ 270

LOCATES AND RETRIEVES ACTIVE DATAK 272
LOCATES AND RETRIEVES STATIC DATAX 274
PLACES DATA IN FIELDS ON PAGES''\ 276

PRINTS IN PLURALITY OF COLORSK 278

DEALER PERSONALIZATIONK 280

CUSTOMER PERSONALIZATIONN 282

LINKS PAGE IDENTIFIERS WITH DATA‘k 285
QUERIES REPORT DATABASE"\- 265

QUERIES DIFFERENCE DATABASE~¥ 267

FIG. 10

US‘ Patent

Apr-29, 1997

Sheet 12 0f 43

r 101
SELECTION DEVICE

MAIN MENU

110

f 172
F'LE

f 174
CONTENTS

[- 176
CUSTOMER

f 177

\

7 INFORMATION

CUSTOMIZE

f 178
PRINT

FIG. ‘11

5,625,776

US. Patent

Apr. 29, 1997

Sheet 13 0f 43

5,625,776

[-170
MAIN MENU
FILE '\ 172

CONTENTS \ 114

NEW PROPOSALx 186

TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 19s

RECALL PROPOSALK 188
SAVE PROPOSAL ’\ 190

CUSTOMIZE \ 177

PASSWORDS"k 224

CUSTOMER INFORMATION '\.176

DEALER NAME"k 225

CUSTOMER *\ 193

DEALER INFORMATIONK 228

LETTERK 202
STD. & OPT. EQUIP.“ 204

INTERNATIONAL'K 234

TRADEX 206
QUOTATION m 208 '

PAYMENT SCHED. & TERMS "\- 210

PRINT K 178

ECONOMICSK 212
PROPOSALK 218

FIG. 12

US. Patent

Apr. 29, 1997

Sheet 14 0f 43

5,625,776

[ 174
comems

TABLE OF cormzmsm 1%

CURRENT PUBLICATION K 260

mmooucnoux 23s
COVER PAGE''\ 250
TABLE OF CONTENTS "\ 252

LETTERK 254
PRODUCT INFORMATION '\ 238

FEATURES & BENEFITS "\- 256
SPECIFICATIONS "'k 258

PERFORMANCEK 240
TRADE K 242

QUOTATION & SIGNATURE "\~ 244

PAYMENT SCHED. & TERMS K 246

ECONOMICSx 248

FIG. 13

US. Patent

Apr. 29, 1997

Sheet 15 0f 43

107

DIFFERENCE DATABASE
ENVIRONMENT PICTURES ’'\~_ 122

ENVIRONMENT TEXT"\~ 124

PRODUCT PlCTURES’"\- 126
PRODUCT TEXT ’\ 128

PRODUCT SPECIFICATIONSX 121

PERFORMANCE SPECIFICATIONSX 123
PRICE SPECIFICATIONS-"x. 125
TRADEMARK PICTURES’M 127

LIFE CYCLE SPECIFICATIONS"k 129
PRODUCT DESCRIPTIONS"\- 131 '

FIG. 14

5,625,776

U.S. Patent

Apr. 29, 1997

Sheet 16 0f 43

106
REPORT DATABASE
PAGE LAYOUTS“ 120

FIG. 15

5,625,776

U.S. Patent

Apr. 29, 1997

Sheet 17 0f 43

5,625,776

USER INTERFACE
FORM OBJECTS
A LETTERFORM

Z8}
A FINANCEFORM

A LIFECYCLEFORM

29.6

23.8
A TABLEOFCONTENTSFORM

A PRODUCTFORM

A PASSWORDFORM

220

30_0
A LISTOFSALESPERSONSFORM

310

A TRADEFORM

A DEALERFORM

101

A RECALLPROPOSALFORM

12

3116

A SAVEPROPOSALFORM

m
A LANGUAGEFORM

A QUOTATiONFORM

3M

2M
A CUSTOMERFORM

2&5

FIG. 16

US. Patent

Apr. 29, 1997

Sheet 18 0f 43

5,625,776

ACTIVE DATABASE
DATA OBJECTS

A LANGUAGEDATA
m
A CUSTOMIZEDATABA
A LISTOFSALESPERSONDATA

M
A PASSWORDDATA

1Q
A DEALERDATA

1i

A PROPOSAL HQ
A PRODUCTDATA

M
A TRADEDATA

m
A QUOTATIONDATA

14A

A TABLEOFCONTENTSDATA

13g
A FINANCEDATA
A COVERSHEETDATA

M

13g
A SALESPERSONDATA

13A
A LETTERDATA

A CUSTOMERDATA

115
A LIFECYCLEDATA

1A8

FIG. 17

_

135