Andover, Mass., May 28, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) – Vicor Corporation (NASDAQ: VICR) today announced that the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (“PTAB”) has denied institution of an Inter Partes Review for each of the patents asserted by Vicor against Delta and its downstream customers at the International Trade Commission (“ITC”).
On July 13, 2023, Vicor filed a complaint alleging infringement of claims of U.S. Patent No. 9,166,481, U.S. Patent No. 9,516,761 and U.S. Patent No. 10,199,950 (“the asserted patents”) by “Certain Power Converter Modules and Computing Systems Containing the Same”. On August 17, 2023, the ITC instituted an investigation of “power converter modules used in data center server, artificial intelligence and cloud computing systems, to power artificial intelligence (“AI”) accelerators, tensor processing units (“TPU”), graphical processing units (“GPU”) and central processing units (“CPU”), and computing systems containing the same”. In its ITC case, Vicor seeks a limited exclusion order and a cease-and-desist order to protect the domestic power module industry by barring from entry into the United States modules and systems infringing any of the asserted patents.
On November 2, 2023, Delta filed a petition requesting that the PTAB institute an inter partes review of claims 1, 2, 5–10, 13–17, 19, and 21–40 (“the challenged claims”) of U.S. Patent No. 10,199,950. On May 17, 2024, the PTAB, having determined that Delta had not established a reasonable likelihood of prevailing with respect to at least one of the challenged claims, issued its decision 10,199,950 denying institution of an inter partes review.
On November 13, 2023, Delta filed a petition requesting that the PTAB institute an inter partes review of claims 1, 22, and 31–35 (“the challenged claims”) of U.S. Patent No. 9,166,481. On May 17, 2024, the PTAB, having determined that Delta had not established a reasonable likelihood of prevailing with respect to at least one of the challenged claims, issued its decision 9,166,481 denying institution of an inter partes review.
On November 22, 2023, Delta filed a petition requesting that the PTAB institute an inter partes review of claims 1–7 (“the challenged claims”) of U.S. Patent No. 9,516,761. On May 24, 2024, the PTAB, having determined that Delta had not established a reasonable likelihood of prevailing with respect to at least one of the challenged claims, issued its decision 9,516,761 denying institution of an inter partes review.
The 9,166,481 patent covers digital control of zero-current and zero-voltage switching resonant power converters. The 10,199,950 patent covers non-isolated, fixed-ratio, soft-switching bus converters and power distribution systems containing the same. The 9,516,761 patent covers power converters with a symmetric heat distribution between two sets of power semiconductor devices. Certain power converter modules, including Non-isolated Bus Converter Modules (“NBMs”), manufactured by infringing competitors, practice all, or some, of the asserted patents. Upon completion of the ITC investigation, NBMs and computing systems containing the same found to infringe any of the asserted patents will be subject to exclusion and cease and desist orders.
Chief Executive Officer Dr. Patrizio Vinciarelli stated: “PTAB decisions, denying all of Delta’s petitions, debunk expert opinions proffered in Delta’s ill-conceived, failed attempts to invalidate Vicor patents. As the dominoes fall, implausible defenses at the PTAB and the ITC have left respondents with little credibility and the imminent prospect of an exclusion order affecting Delta and its NBM customers, a remedy against abuse of intellectual property practiced by the U.S. domestic industry.”
Recent PTAB decisions come in the wake of an earlier judicial ruling against three Foxconn subsidiaries who are also respondents at the ITC. On January 19, 2024, the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts issued a temporary restraining order precluding those subsidiaries from pursuing arbitration against Vicor in China. The Foxconn subsidiaries sought to get a Chinese arbitration panel to rule that fine print in certain NBM purchase orders entitled them to unlimited royalty-free licenses to Vicor patents covering purchased NBM products. For more information on Vicor and its products, please visit the Company’s website at www.vicorpower.com.
