VLSI’s Billion-Dollar Patent to Get Tribunal’s Validity Review

A VLSI Technology Inc. patent that Intel Corp. was told to pay $1.5 billion for infringing will get a validity check from an administrative tribunal, based on a challenge from a newly formed South Dakota business.

The Patent Trial and Appeal Board agreed to institute review of VLSI’s U.S. Patent No. 7,523,373 based on a request from Patent Quality Assurance LLC. The board said there was a “reasonable likelihood” at least part of the patent is invalid.

The decision comes nearly 11 months after jurors in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas decided Intel owed $1.5 ...