The American company has been in trials since 2018 and everything seems to indicate that it will have to reach an agreement if it does not want to win a ban that would mean it stops selling processors. At least in Chinese territory.
Intel not only has a competition problem, after 7 years dominating the sector completely alone. But also now has to face patent lawsuits.
Surely at Intel headquarters they fondly recall that time, between 2011 and 2018, when they didn’t have to worry about anything and their sales were going from strength to strength. Unfortunately everything ends, and if AMD first came to stand up with their Ryzen, now the Chinese come with their patents.
As explained by various international media, Intel carries since 2018 defending himself against an accusation that blames him for infringing the FinFET patent, and this September he lost his sixth challenge.
For those who do not stand, the Institute of Microelectronics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (IMECAS) presented a lawsuit against Intel in the Beijing High Court in 2018, requesting 200 million yuan (approximately 25 million euros) for damages plus the cost of the litigation.
The demand is motivated by an alleged patent infringement, as a research and development laboratory funded by the Chinese government claims that the American company violated its FinFET patent, technology that allowed Intel to create its 3rd generation Intel Core (Ivy Bridge) in 2011.
In addition to the financial compensation of 25 million euros, The lawsuit also seeks a ban on the sale of Intel’s Intel Core family, which is your best-selling product and the foundation of your business.
Intel’s latest setback in the FinFET case follows a long series of attempts by the company to bring the patent review process to the United States Patent and Trademark Office. However, the USPTO has refused to hear the case, leaving the dispute in the hands of the Chinese authorities.
Intel has had some success in challenging the validity of the patent, as three of the claims in the lawsuit have been found invalid. Nevertheless, eleven others are still executable. This means that barring a miracle, the infringement lawsuit against Intel will go ahead.