Monday, August 3rd 2020
Intel Accused of Infringing FinFET Patents of the Microelectronics Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences
Today we are finding out that Intel has allegedly infringed FinFET patents of Microelectronics Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. On July 28th, the patent review committee has heard an application that accuses Intel of violating a patent 201110240931.5 commonly referred to as FinFET patent. The patent dates back to 2011, and it comes from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, mainly Microelectronics Institute. The Chinese patent holders are asking for as much as 200 million yuan, which roughly translates to 28,664,380 US dollars. Given that this patent infringement is a major one for Intel, it is sure that a company will be pursued extensively in court. All of the Intel's semiconductors use FinFET technology, and if this is true, the violation is rather big. For more in detail reading, please refer to the source which goes through the history of Intel and Microelectronics Institute patent violation filing.
Sources:
Small Tech News, via @chiakokhua (Twitter)

64 Comments on Intel Accused of Infringing FinFET Patents of the Microelectronics Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences
Here, you and others are making grand statements on something you have no details or nuance on yet. This story, as presented here alone, is insufficient to draw conclusions, and by doing so about China's possession of IP that a company in our country may have violated says you are biased, if not bigoted.
For example, look up how many patents Huawei has as a proportion of the telecom market. I'll wait. What you will find is Huawei is the leader on patents. Now, Huawei has even filed and been granted US patents. Huawei then recently has sued Verizon for violation thereof. And Marco Rubio, around that time, proposed something similar to a bill of attainder refusing Huawei the right to seek enforcement in US courts. That would literally be us not honoring our IP law for patents we granted to foreign companies. Didn't pass, but you should look it up before speaking.
I can give numerous examples. Also, to the person that said they violated copyright, that makes no sense. No one country's government or one company is guilty of the crimes of others within those same borders, or else you would be guilty of fraud, war crimes, etc. Maybe charge you with a crime committed by the unibomber, right? See how absurd on its face that is.
Instead, let's wait to find out the nuances of the case before passing judgement. It may be a situation similar to when Samsung was sued by the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology for infringement of their finFET patent.
But this anti-Chinese rhetoric without reason disgusts me!
For reference, the originating article;
www.smalltechnews.com/archives/194570That was adorable, you trying to throw veiled insults. Don't do that.
There is no reference to an actual court case as of yet and a bit of research yielded no results of one existing. That article is from a very small site of dubious quality and might be a fluff piece. Even if there is, this nonsense is little more than additional tit-for-tat that has been going on for years.
Now, can you give me the proof that they in no way used the changes to the patent filed there? Can you show, to more probable than not, that the patents are identical and that there is nothing new or novel in the patent filed 11 years later, give or take, when I showed there is a finFET patent Samsung was sued over filed by the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology in 2003: patents.google.com/patent/US6885055B2/en (note, that is not Intel's patent for finFET, because there are multiple types of finFETs and implementations).
So, please, show me the body of evidence proving these patents are identical without any novelty. Please show me that Intel's implementation when building any chip since their first 22nm finFET design did not, in any way, implement what is being discussed in the Chinese patent, if you cannot invalidate it. Then we can sit down and hold your position. But not a second before that.
Edit: changed the characterization of the 2003 patent filing to more accurately state the relationship. Samsung had worked with KAIST on finFETs at one point, but lost the court battle.
I get your sentiment though, starting from an allegedly bigoted standpoint is not helpful on a global forum.
However no one's blind either and we all shop online.
So far your edging it (name calling)but it's not right to try to close down debate's with the. Bigot card either.
Chinese Land Rover Evoque ("Named Wind Rover"):
Knockoff of CREST toothpaste:
Chinese knockoff of Heineken beer:
Funny video of a Chinese BMW knockoff that completely rusted apart after 2 years and 100,000 Km (60K miles):
So I could go on and on and on and fill a book with this stuff. It's pathetic what they've been allowed to get away with.
You were saying?What an unfortunate choice of name. LOL!
patents.google.com/patent/US9070719B2/en
So, Intel ALREADY tried to and failed to invalidate this specific patent which has a US patent counterpart. The article did not have the US patent, so I tracked that down for you. This case evidently dates back years.
China has given me so much ammo I can do this for weeks - literally.
On with the show:
s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/ptab-filings%2FIPR2019-00834%2F1
This is the Intel petition for review.
s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/ptab-filings%2FIPR2018-01574%2F11
This was the preliminary response.
www.law360.com/articles/1206349/ptab-rejects-2nd-intel-challenge-to-semiconductor-patent
Here is an article, paywalled, showing Intel's second challenge to this specific patent was rejected.
On that same (first) link, scroll down to legal events. It shows Intel bringing proceedings multiple times. Evidently, their challenge IN THE U.S. Patent Bar failed multiple times trying to invalidate it. So the patent itself, cursorily, looks valid.
Next comes on whether or not Intel violated it. Now, why would you spend so much money and multiple court cases trying to invalidate a patent if you did not violate it?
Edit: added first within parenthetical.
Intel come up with something and is awarded a patent. MICAS copies it with a slight variation and gets a patent also. Intel tries to invalidate said copy patent because it is not enough of a change to warrant a new patent and said design infringes on advances Intel already came up with. Intel tries to invalidate said copy patents to protect what they have created.
Did you actually READ those PDF's you cited? Context is important, you are missing some.
I'm not saying that's everyone's stance but many have shown that.
However I agree with his point of the Chinese patent may be different to Intel's original one and if Intel did use the changes on the Chinese patent there MAY be a case to answer.
I mean hell, the changes here are the same things that goes on in other industries, especially with the pharmaceutical industry, A company improves upon a process designed by another company and gets a patent in its own name.
Further, you did not disprove what I said. You did not show Intel prevailed in their challenge on either IPR2018-01574 or IPR2019-00834 . If you want, you can sign up for the free account at the USPTO and grab a copy of the decision from here: www.uspto.gov/patents-application-process/patent-trial-and-appeal-board/trials/patent-trial-and-appeal-board-end.html
That is the US government website where you can look up the IPR cases and see for yourself.
You really have no clue on what constitutes proof, do you? I gave you preliminary filings and the petition to challenge. I show it is the same patent. Now, I give to you the US government website to look it up for yourself. Further, just because it is behind the paywall and no one else covered it does not mean that is the only way to verify it.
You have given nothing but declaratory statements but lacked substantive proof in your responses. Notice how you ignore everything else presented, including me proving you wrong that it was the same patent, all to latch onto one thing.
Further, ignorant does not mean stupid. It's root is "ignore" as in you do not see or refuse to see what is there. It means that your lack of knowledge can be rectified, which I am attempting to do.
Edit: edited the line about law360 to better reflect the nature of my statement.
*There is a term for it, Laches, where basically you are putting the defendant (in this case, Intel) at a severe disadvantage by waiting so long to file suit against the alleged patent infringement. Basically, if you own a patent then you are not allowed to sit on it for years without enforcing it if you know that someone is infringing it. By not enforcing the patent infringement in a reasonable time it can be inferred that either the use is not infringing the patent or that you are allowing it and have no intention of enforcing the patent.
So although you are correct to point to laches, you are wrong in the application. Here, in this case, within 3 years of the patent application being granted, Intel filed to invalidate it. The patent being granted is the date beyond dispute that the patent is valid, even though it runs from the filing date. That means they did not sleep on their right and this case is proper after Intel tried to invalidate the patent within the time period, which the validity would need established in the primary case for patent infringement. Since Intel brought two such cases, with both failing, that can now be deemed proven. That moves the case up to the question of whether a violation of the patent occurred.
Hope that helps. And thank you for the lucid response. I do appreciate it!
As long as those products are aimed at an internal market it harms no one.
Even books are not safe from theft by China:
More Starbucks ripoffs :
One of many, many iPhone ripoffs.
But it doesn't stop there. They cloned the entire Apple store :
How is that hurting companies that do not trade in China?
Surely you can't be that blinded by patriotism that you think it takes away from income streams of external companies!
If what you said is correct then I would imagine that Intel would pay the ~$28 million in exchange for a license to use the technology and probably attempt to add in licenses for any other microprocessor related patents that the Microelectronics Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences may hold. It is way cheaper then defending the litigation and doesn't put them at odds with the Chinese government.