Microchip Tech Cements Win in Challenge of HD Silicon Patent

The Federal Circuit affirmed on Thursday a ruling invalidating a semiconductor patent that’s part of a long-running infringement suit against Microchip Technology Inc.

The Patent Trial and Appeal Board flubbed its interpretation of the term “comprising tungsten” in a patent owned by non-practicing entity HD Silicon Solutions LLC, the appeals court said. Nevertheless, it held the board reached the right result in axing claims from HDSS’s US Patent No. 6,774,033.

“Although we conclude that the Board’s claim construction was erroneous, we determine that that error was harmless,” wrote Judge Alan D. Lourie in a precedential opinion issued Thursday by ...