VLSI Patent Challenger’s $413,000 Sanction Scrutinized on Appeal

An entity that administratively challenged VLSI Technologies LLC’s potentially lucrative patent urged the Federal Circuit Monday to wipe out a $413,000 abuse-of-process sanction it received from the former US Patent and Trademark Office director.

OpenSky Industries LLC petitioned the Patent Trial and Appeal Board to review VLSI’s US Patent No. 7,725,759, months after VLSI won a $2.2 billion verdict against Intel Corp. for infringement of that and one other semiconductor patent. Former PTO Director Kathi Vidal afterward punished the little-known entity for its allegedly sharp-elbowed negotiating with both Intel and VLSI.

But David Boundy of Pierson Ferdinand, who represented ...