Apple Gets Mixed Result in Patent Office Validity Retrials

Apple Inc. failed to convince an administrative tribunal to cancel part of a digital messaging patent the company’s being sued for infringing, even as it secured a procedural win involving another patent claim asserted against it in the suit.

The Patent Trial and Appeal Board on Thursday entered an adverse judgment against MPH Technologies OY in one of its reviews, after the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit vacated and instructed the board to scrutinize again a patent claim that survived Apple’s initial challenge.

Apple began petitioning to nix MPH-owned patents in March 2019, six months after the ...