Force MOS Seeks Expansive Director Review Given Recent USPTO Changes

In June, after earlier jury and bench trials, Eastern District of Texas Judge Rodney Gilstrap entered final judgment in the case that Force MOS Technology filed against ASUSTek Computer in November 2022. Force MOS was awarded $10.5M (plus interest and costs) for the infringement of claims from two “trenched MOSFET” patents, but, in a mid-May final written decision, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) canceled via inter partes review (IPR) one of the claims found infringed by the jury. Given the sharp shift in the USPTO’s stance toward director review at the PTAB, after last year’s election, Force MOS has sought to resolve this tension by seeking director review of not just the final written decision that canceled its infringed claim but also of the institution decision (ID) in the IPR itself, arguing that the exercise of inherent authority to reconsider that ID is necessary to “prevent a miscarriage of justice”.