VLSI Challenger Faces Fees, Admonishment From Patent Director

US Patent and Trademark Office Director Kathi Vidal ordered one of the successful challengers of VLSI Technology LLC patents behind a $2 billion infringement verdict against Intel Corp. to show cause as to why it shouldn’t face sanctions for its conduct during the validity challenge.

She found that Patent Quality Assurance LLC failed to comply with discovery requirements and “made misleading arguments about the availability of an expert witness,” constituting sanctionable misconduct. Vidal gave PQA seven days from the Aug. 3 order date to brief her on why it shouldn’t be forced to pay compensatory damages to VLSI—including legal fees—or ...