United States Patent Office Confirms Validity of FSC Client’s Patent

The United States Patent Office issued a “Notice of Intent to Issue Ex Parte Reexamination Certificate (NIIRC)” confirming the validity of the challenged claim of U.S. Patent No. 6,958,623 without any amendment or modification.  The ‘623 Patent was being reexamined by the USPTO as a result of Power Integrations, Inc.’s request for ex parte reexamination.

This decision by the USPTO came down approximately one year after the law firm of Friedman, Suder & Cooke obtained a jury verdict in San Francisco federal court against Power Integrations, Inc. for patent infringement of the ‘623 Patent.  There, the jury unanimously found both literal infringement and infringement by equivalents of Claim 1 of the ‘623 Patent.  Power Integrations, Inc. chose not to present a validity case to the jury, and did not file its ex parte reexamination request until months after the jury rendered its verdict.

In the recent NIIRC, the Examiner considered and ultimately rejected all grounds of invalidity proposed by Power Integrations, Inc.  Accordingly, the ‘623 Patent, as originally issued, remains intact and enforceable.

The ‘623 Patent is currently the subject of further litigation between Opticurrent, LLC and Power Integrations, Inc. in the Northern District of California.