Patent Office Boots OpenSky Challenge as Review Process ‘Abuse’

The yearslong patent dispute between Intel Corp. and VLSI Technology LLC reached an emphatic turning point Tuesday as the US Patent and Trademark Office dismissed OpenSky Industries LLC from its challenge to a VLSI patent—which Intel had joined—and issued sanctions for what it labeled ‘abuse’ of the patent challenge system.

In a precedential director review decision Tuesday, PTO Director Kathi Vidal found that OpenSky had abused the Patent Trial and Appeal Board process in an attempt to extract money from VLSI, which in March 2021 won a $2.1 billion patent infringement verdict against Intel.

Vidal prohibited OpenSky from further participation …