Sony and Samsung’s Attack on Raytheon Chip Patent Affirmed

Raytheon Co.’s patent claims relating to manufacturing stacked semiconductors were properly invalidated for obviousness, a federal appeals court has ruled.

The Patent Trial and Appeal Board, the patent office body that decides administrative validity challenges, correctly rejected Raytheon’s arguments that the patent predated the prior art, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled April 2.

The nonprecedential decision is a win for Sony Corp. and Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., which Raytheon has sued for patent infringement. Raytheon is alleging that Sony and Samsung’s light sensing modules, used in digital cameras and smartphones, are infringing.

First-to-Invent Regime

Sony ...