Apr. 28, 2015
Court of Appeals Affirms the USPTO's Finding that the All Patent Claims Asserted by Everlight/Emcore Unpatentable
On April 16, 2015, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (“CAFC”) affirmed the United States Patent and Trademark Office's (USPTO) determination of unpatentability of U.S. Patent No. 6,653,215 (the “'215 Patent”) owned by Emcore Corporation (“Emcore”).
The '215 Patent is asserted in the litigation styled Everlight Electronics Co., Ltd. and Emcore Corporation v. Nichia Corporation and Nichia America Corporation, Case No. 2-12-cv-11758 (Eastern District of Michigan), in which Emcore, the owner of the '215 Patent, and Everlight Electronics, its exclusive licensee, asserted the '215 Patent against Nichia. In response, Nichia Corporation filed with the USPTO a Petition for inter partes review (“IPR”) of all of the claims of the '215 Patent (IPR No. IPR2012-00005). As reported in a prior press release , in its Final Written Decision on February 11, 2014, the USPTO held that Nichia had met its burden of proof in showing that all of the claims are unpatentable as “obvious” over several prior publications.
Emcore appealed the USPTO's decision to the CAFC. Oral argument in the appeal was held on April 10, 2015. The CAFC issued a decision that affirmed the USPTO's determination of invalidity of all claims of the ‘215 Patent.
Nichia will vigorously fight any allegation of infringement based on a patent whose validity is questionable.
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