News

Vicor Patent Reissued

February 16, 1999 by Jeff Shepard

Vicor Corp. (Andover, MA) announced that the United States Patent and Trademark Office has issued US Patent RE36,098 as a reissue of Vicor's US Patent No. 4,441,146 ("reset patent"). The reissue patent includes original claims 1 through 5 of the reset patent plus 38 additional new claims.According to Vicor, the claims in the reissue patent cover non-coincident active clamp technology in a broadly defined class of single-ended forward converters and enable design of smaller and more energy-efficient power supplies. The claims cover, but are not limited to, so-called "zero-voltage switching" (ZVS) technology. Vicor filed for reissue of the US reset patent in October 1995. The company noted that the US Patent Office has ruled on three separate occasions, in response to submissions by the patentee and a protest filed by a third party, that the subject matter of the US reset patent is novel and patentable over the prior art.Vicor also stated that it believes that its rights under the reset patent and the reissue patent have been and are being infringed, and that it will continue to take appropriate steps, as necessary, to enforce its patent rights against infringers.