Intel on Wednesday won the UK leg of a global patent dispute with US rival R2 Semiconductor, which had sought a possible objection that could potentially prevent the sale of some of Intel's chips. R2 sued Intel at London's High Court in 2022, arguing that Intel had infringed their patent by marketing chips and processors containing fully integrated voltage regulators.
Intel, for its part, claimed that R2's patent was invalid and that it was also trying to invalidate R2's patent, which deals with on-chip power supplies for computer microprocessors. And the High Court ruled in favor of Intel.
Judge Richard Hacon said in a written ruling after a trial in April that R2's patent is invalid because of the lack of an "inventive step" by building on earlier inventions. However, the judge added that Intel would have infringed R2's patent if it had been recognized as valid. Neither Intel nor R2 immediately responded to a request for comment. R2's lawyers argued in court documents that "Intel's entire current product line of microchips, processors or other microelectronic devices containing a fully integrated voltage regulator" infringes their patent.
R2 sought an injunction against further alleged infringements, which could have stopped Intel from selling products, including its "Ice Lake" server chips. Wednesday's ruling contrasts with a ruling in R2's favor given by a German court in February. The regional court in Düsseldorf ruled that Intel's products infringed R2's patent, a decision that is under appeal, according to Intel's lawyers in the UK lawsuit. Intel and R2 are also involved in similar lawsuits in France and Italy.