Philips Beats Back Intel Challenge of Copy-Protection Patent

Koninklijke Philips NV’s patent covering device-authentication technology remains valid, an administrative tribunal ruled Thursday, dealing a blow to Intel Corp. in a broader dispute between the companies.

The Patent Trial and Appeal Board shot down Intel’s challenge of US Patent No. 9,436,809, which covers a method to measure the distance between two communication devices that exchange information “in order to determine whether one device may access multimedia content stored on the other device.”

While crediting Intel as a “‘master of its complaint’” that “proposes a very specific combination” of a cryptography textbook and an article outlining security protocols that ...