‘Off the Rails’ Patent Director Review Taken to Federal Circuit

US Patent and Trademark Office Director Kathi Vidal “unlawfully” interfered with a patent validity challenge tied to the historic $2 billion infringement verdict against Intel Corp., Patent Quality Assurance LLC told the Federal Circuit in a mandamus petition filed Tuesday.

Vidal assumed the worst about PQA’s conduct, booted it from its own validity challenge, and held up the proceeding indefinitely, according to PQA’s petition, which asks the appeals court to reverse a sanctions order and allow the company to pursue its challenge to a VLSI Technology LLC patent.

“The underlying IPR proceeding is off the rails, and PQA needs ...