NXP Notches Patent Board Win With Semiconductor Invalidations

An administrative tribunal knocked out claims in a pair of Bell Semiconductor LLC patents, handing NXP Semiconductors N.V. a partial win in the midst of ongoing district court litigation asserting the patents.

The Patent Trial and Appeal Board ruled Oct. 6 that some challenged claims in US Patent Nos. 8,049,340 and 8,288,269—which cover a device and methods “for avoiding parasitic capacitance in an integrated circuit package"—are obvious in light of prior publications.

Bell had asserted the patents in lawsuits against NXP and a variety of companies, including Texas Instruments Inc., Microchip Technology Inc., and Integrated Device Technology ...