VLSI-Intel Fight Is Test of How Vidal Wields PTAB Review Power

US Patent and Trademark Office Director Kathi Vidal’s intervention in administrative tribunal decisions to review patents underlying a $2.18 billion verdict against Intel Corp. puts her in the middle of a thorny patent fight involving allegations of sabotage against one of the parties.

The cases are among the first in which Vidal has exercised the authority to review Patent Trial and Appeal Board decisions, a power the US Supreme Court granted last year.

It’s unclear whether Vidal will back the PTAB’s decisions or reverse them. But her handling of the cases will offer clues about how she intends to ...