Intel’s processors have always had a foundational piece of technology to them which is the FinFET and it has served the company’s silicosis since 2011, serving as a key ingredient in nearly every processor it sells.
However, the silicon giant has now been embroiled in a patent infringement lawsuit in China which is ongoing since 2018 with a Chinese government-funded R&D lab that asserts the company has violated its FinFET patent.
To these violations Intel responded by challenging the validity of the patent, however, it has recently lost its sixth challenge with the China Patent Reexamination Board. This latest loss marls yet another setback for Intel in the case as it looks to avoid a ban on the sale of its ‘Core’ family of processors in China. If the company loses its china market then the company will have a huge loss.
It was the Institute of Microelectronics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (IMECAS) that filed the lawsuit against Intel in the Beijing High Court in 2018. The IMECAS is seeking 200 million yuan which is roughly USD 31 million in damages plus the cost of litigation.
However, the most important thing and a disaster of Intel is that the lawsuit also seeks a ban on the sale of Intel’s ‘Core’ family of chips that it uses for its client products, at least until the two parties can come to a licensing agreement.
“This decision is subject to appeal and Intel looks forward to the courts’ balanced consideration of Intel’s invalidity challenges to the asserted patent.”
Intel also said that it can’t assign a dollar amount to the potential total damages, saying, “[…]we are unable to make a reasonable estimate of the potential loss or range of losses, if any, arising from these matters. We dispute IMECAS’s claims and intend to vigorously defend against them.”
Intel’s latest setback in the FinFET case follows a long string of the company’s attempts to bring the Inter Partes patent review process to friendlier climes at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
This is not the first time the company is facing such a lawsuit, its legal department remains busy as the company is still in the middle of a
Intel’s legal department is certainly busy: The company is also in the midst of a long-running series of lawsuits from VLSI that have already seen the company fined $2.18 billion for one case but emerge victorious in another.
