Vicor Corporation has announced that the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has declined to initiate Inter Partes Review (IPR) of all patents asserted by Vicor in its complaint against Delta Electronics (Delta) and its customers at the International Trade Commission (ITC).
On July 13, 2023, Vicor filed a complaint at the ITC against Delta for infringing three of its patents: U.S. Patent Nos. 9,166,481, 9,516,761, and 10,199,950. The complaint triggered an ITC investigation on August 17, 2023, into power converter modules used in various high-tech applications, including data centers and AI systems.
Vicor’s ITC complaint seeks a limited exclusion and cease-and-desist orders to prevent the importation of infringing power converter modules and computing systems into the U.S. An evidentiary hearing took place from April 29 to May 3, 2024, with a decision pending.
Delta attempted to challenge the validity of these patents through IPR petitions filed for the ‘950 patent on November 2, 2023, the ‘481 patent on November 13, 2023, and the ‘761 patent on November 22, 2023. However, on May 17, 2024, and May 24, 2024, the PTAB concluded that Delta was unlikely to succeed in its challenges, thus denying the institution of all three IPRs.
The patents in question cover innovative technologies in power conversion, including digital control of switching resonant power converters (‘481 patent), non-isolated, fixed-ratio bus converters (‘950 patent), and power converters designed for symmetrical heat distribution (‘761 patent). Competing Non-isolated Bus Converter Modules (NBMs) manufactured by others are accused of infringing these patents.
Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Patrizio Vinciarelli, stated: “PTAB decisions, denying all of Delta’s IPRs, 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 the imminent prospect of an exclusion order affecting Delta and its customers, a necessary remedy against infringement of intellectual property invented by Vicor and practiced by Vicor’s pioneering NBM power converter modules.”
Recent PTAB rulings follow a prior court decision involving three Foxconn subsidiaries, also part of the ITC investigation. On January 19, 2024, the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts issued a temporary restraining order that stopped these subsidiaries from seeking arbitration in China against Vicor. The Foxconn subsidiaries had unsuccessfully attempted to secure a decision from a Chinese arbitration panel, arguing that standard fine print in some of their purchase orders for NBMs granted them unlimited royalty-free licenses to Vicor patents.
“This attempt by Foxconn to seize the IP of a U.S. company is the kind of abusive and unfair business practice that is catching the attention of U.S. lawmakers concerned about misappropriation of U.S. intellectual property,” commented Dr. Vinciarelli.
