VLSI Challenges Draw Sanctions From Patent Office Director

US Patent and Trademark Office Director Kathi Vidal issued sanctions against two petitioners in patent review proceedings against VLSI Technology LLC at an administrative tribunal on Thursday, removing both parties and leaving the door open to monetary penalties.

Exercising her director review authority, Vidal determined the petitioners in both cases, Patent Quality Assurance LLC and OpenSky Industries LLC, abused the Patent Trial and Appeal Board’s inter partes review process, attempting to leverage their patent challenges to extract money from other participants. Both companies filed challenges to VLSI patents underlying a $2 billion March 2021 patent infringement verdict against Intel Corp ...