Inter Partes Patent Review
Information Today, Vol. 24, No. 10, p. 15, November 2007
3 Pages Posted: 10 Jul 2010
Date Written: November 2007
Abstract
As patent reform efforts meander their way through Congress, the information and technology industries struggle to cope with the thousands of patents that may or may not apply to their activities. Last year’s battle over the patents underlying the BlackBerry mobile service – and the resulting $600 million settlement of that battle – illustrate the stakes. A current lawsuit between Intel and chipmaker Transmeta over Transmeta’s microchip patents puts over $100 billion in Intel Pentium, Core 2 Duo and other processors at stake.
Recently, however, Intel invoked a little-used patent review procedure as an alternative strategy to respond to Transmeta’s claims of patent infringement. Known as an “inter partes re-examination”, Intel is seeking an opportunity to put the lawsuit on hold while asking the United States Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) to review the original Transmeta patents.
Keywords: patent law, lawsuits, patent review, patent reform, infringement, legislation, inter partes re-examination, United States Patent and Trademark Office, USPTO
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