News: Microelectronics
12 July 2024
Innoscience claims victory over EPC’s ’508 patent in ITC’s initial decision
Gallium nitride-on-silicon (GaN-on-Si) power solutions firm Innoscience of Suzhou, China notes that it has defeated the entirety of US Patent No. 8,404,508 of Efficient Power Conversion Corp (EPC) of El Segundo, CA, USA in the initial determination at the US International Trade Commission (ITC). No violation was found on claim 1 (the only asserted claim) of the ’508 patent, Innoscience asserts.
According to the ITC’s initial determination, the chief administrative law judge found no violation as to the ’508 patent, which is directed towards a method of forming an enhancement-mode GaN transistor. Innoscience hence says that it has overcome EPC’s ’508 patent.
The judge found violation as to the ’294 patent. Innoscience disagrees with the judge, at least because the ‘294 patent is invalid, Innoscience claims, adding that the USPTO instituted an inter partes review (IPR) challenging all claims of the ’294 patent under four different grounds and has agreed with Innoscience’s invalidity arguments. The ’294 IPR decision will issue in March 2025.
The ’508 and ’294 patents asserted by EPC are currently under review by the USPTO. Claims 1-12 of the ’294 patent and claims 1-5 of the ’508 patent are challenged as obvious in view of the prior art, says Innoscience. The firm also challenged at the USPTO two additional EPC patents, which EPC previously asserted at the ITC but later decided to withdraw. While EPC withdrew these patents from the ITC, Innoscience maintained its challenges of these patents at the USPTO. In all four EPC patents originally asserted by EPC, the USPTO has concluded that “there is a reasonable likelihood that petitioner [Innoscience] would prevail with respect to at least one of the claims challenged in the petition.” Innoscience therefore says that it has achieved, via the preliminary decisions, a 4-for-4 record at the USPTO.
Innoscience claims that the ITC’s decision further confirms that EPC’s lawsuits against it are misguided. In all four USPTO rulings, three judges have initially agreed with Innoscience that the EPC patents are invalid. The firm says that, in all four proceedings, it has described multiple reasons why the four EPC patents are invalid, and for virtually every argument on invalidity, the USPTO initially agreed. Next, the USPTO will receive additional briefing and make final determinations by 26 March 2025.
The briefing schedule for petitions for review of the final initial determination includes a 19 July 2024 deadline for filing petitions and a 29 July deadline for responding to petitions. The target date for this investigation is 5 November.
US ITC finds key EPC patents valid and foundational patent infringed by Innoscience
US Patent Office reviewing validity of two EPC patents asserted against Innoscience
Innoscience responds to EPC’s lawsuits filed at US ITC and federal courts
