In a patent dispute, one challenge can be explaining technical features of an invention or product in an easily understandable manner. Analogies are helpful on this score.
In the patent infringement case of Sprint v. Time Warner Cable, Time Warner tried to distinguish its IP-based technology from ATM technology described in the patents at issue. Time Warner’s expert described the two technologies this way:  ATM is “like being on a train track where you have to follow the tracks,†but IP is like “driving a car from Point A to [Point] B, where you’re free to take different roads.â€
Assuming this is an accurate analogy, the reference to railways and roads allows the reader to readily understand the emphasized difference between the technologies.
Case Citation:Â Sprint Communications Company LP v. Time Warner Cable, Inc., No. 2017-2247 (Fed. Cir. Nov. 30, 2018).