The Patent Trial and Appeal Board of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office upheld the patentability of SynQor Inc.'s U.S. Patent relating to unregulated Intermediate Bus Architecture. The Patent Trial and Appeal Board of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office reversed an earlier decision by a patent examiner in an inter partes reexamination proceeding and upheld the patentability of SynQor's U.S. Patent No. 7,072,190 (the "'190" patent) relating to unregulated Intermediate Bus Architecture ("IBA"). Murata Manufacturing Co., Ltd. v. SynQor, Inc., Appeal No. 2012-012209, Reexamination Control No. 95/001,207.
The '190 patent was the first in a series of related patents issued to SynQor regarding unregulated and semi-regulated IBA and was the subject of prior successful litigation against industry suppliers of unregulated and semi-regulated bus converters used in intermediate bus architectures. SynQor, Inc. v. Artesyn Technologies, Inc. et al Civil Action No. 2:07-CV-497 E.D. Texas aff'd, SynQor, Inc. v. Artesyn Technologies, Inc, 709 F.3d 1365 (Fed. Cir. 2013).
Writing for the panel, Administrative Patent Judge Perry noted: "It is impressive that the high-end computer market and telecom equipment market turned to the Schlecht solution and adopted it... DPA "bricks" that dominated the switch market were swept aside by Dr. Schlecht's design, which Cisco and others widely adopted after Dr. Schlecht demonstrated its value."
"Based on our analysis of the technical arguments presented and the objective evidence of non-obviousness, we are persuaded from the record before us that claims 1-33 would not have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the '190 patent invention," Judge Perry continued.
Dr. Martin F. Schlecht, Chief Executive Officer of SynQor, commented: "We appreciate the diligent and thoughtful approach of the Patent and Trademark Office in this matter. We believe this ruling upholding the patentability of the '190 patent will soon be similarly applied to SynQor's other IBA patents under reexamination. In the meantime, SynQor will continue to aggressively protect its intellectual property rights against infringement."
