Ancora's appeal involving Roku and Nintendo turned on the meaning of 'agent' in a software-security patent dispute.
The Board treated the ordinary meaning of the term as not limited to software only, relying on record evidence and earlier treatment of the patent family.
For software patent teams, the case shows how a single technical noun can carry the appeal when prior art depends on whether hardware, software, or a broader component can satisfy the claim.
The decision belongs in the claim-construction side of the PTAB archive, especially for patents that use security and authorization terminology.