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SynQor Seeks Rehearing for the ‘190 Patent

March 26, 2015 by Jeff Shepard

SynQor Corp. announced today that the Federal District Court in Texas has now scheduled the pre-trial conferences in SynQor's patent infringement suits against Cisco and Vicor for September 15, 2015 and January 13, 2016, respectively. Trials are expected to commence shortly thereafter in Marshall, Texas. SynQor, Inc. v. Cisco Systems, Inc. Civil Action No. 2:14-CV-286 E.D. Texas and SynQor, Inc. v. Vicor Corporation Civil Action No. 2:14-CV-287 E.D. Texas. SynQor also announced that it is seeking a rehearing of a recent Federal Circuit decision in Vicor's reexamination of SynQor's U.S. Patent No. 7,072,190 ("'190 patent"). In that proceeding the Federal Circuit found that certain claims of the '190 patent are anticipated by a prior art Steigerwald patent and remanded certain other claims of the '190 patent that are not anticipated by Steigerwald to the Patent Office for reconsideration in light of the Federal Circuit's decision.

According to SynQor, that decision spurred inaccurate press coverage, including misleading quotes from Vicor's CEO, Dr. Vinciarelli. According to SynQor's CEO, Dr. Martin Schlecht, "It is unfortunate that Dr. Vinciarelli has seized on this decision to make false and misleading statements in the press that appear designed to impugn my character, SynQor's products and SynQor's intellectual property. SynQor takes strong issue with these statements and eagerly awaits its day in court."

"SynQor cannot refute the accuracy of Vicor's press release and is, instead, trying to keep afloat its scare campaign asserting bogus patents for which it has become known in the industry. A future trial between Vicor and SynQor will be about Vicor's counterclaims for unfair and deceptive trade practices and tortuous interference engaged in by SynQor and its principals," Dr. Patrizio Vinciarelli, Vicor's Chief Executive Officer, stated.

The latest statement from SynQor also points out the following: “The Federal Circuit decision has no impact on SynQor's ability to continue the patent infringement cases against Vicor and Cisco. This remains true whether the Court grants SynQor's motion for rehearing of its decision or not. First, only certain claims of the '190 patent were found to be anticipated by prior art. Second, the '190 patent is only one of four patents asserted against Vicor and one of six patents asserted against Cisco.”

The claims of the '190 patent that the Federal Circuit remanded to the Patent Office were previously found to be patentable (not invalid) in three different decisions by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board ("PTAB"). These decisions all found the claims at issue were non-obvious for technical reasons, and they also rejected the hindsight invalidity attacks based on what actually unfolded in the marketplace (i.e., the real world secondary considerations).

“The Federal Circuit decision has no impact on SynQor's prior patent litigation case (the '497 case) against the then known largest suppliers of bus converters. That case was won by SynQor in a jury trial, it was upheld on appeal to the same Federal Circuit and it has long since been closed. Moreover, none of the '190 patent claims that the Federal Circuit recently found anticipated were even asserted at trial in the prior '497 case and thus did not figure in the damages award.

"We firmly believe that we will prevail at trial against both Vicor and Cisco and that the PTAB will continue to rule in SynQor's favor," stated Dr. Schlecht. "We also remain committed to protecting our valuable intellectual property against all infringers, including Vicor and Cisco."