Broadcom Says Patent Court Preliminary Opinion Rules In Favor Of Company

(RTTNews) - Broadcom Limited (AVGO) said that the German Federal Patent Court ("GFPC") issued a preliminary opinion that all claims of an Invensas Corporation patent asserted against Broadcom in Germany should be null and void.

In May 2016, Invensas Corporation, an affiliate of Xperi Corporation (formerly Tessera Holding Corporation), filed two infringement actions concerning the German part of European Patent number 1 186 034 B1 against Broadcom and certain of its distributors before the Regional Court of Mannheim, Germany. In November 2016, Broadcom filed a nullity action against the '034 patent in the GFPC.

In March 2017, the Regional Court of Mannheim ruled that Broadcom had infringed the '034 Patent and ordered an injunction preventing the commercialization of certain Broadcom products in Germany. On October 5, 2017, the GFPC issued its preliminary opinion in the nullity action that all claims of the '034 Patent asserted against Broadcom should be null and void based on prior art submitted by Broadcom. An oral hearing will be held by the GFPC on January 25, 2018, and a final decision will be issued at that hearing or shortly thereafter.

Enforcement of the injunction is suspended until after the GFPC's final ruling in January and will continue to be suspended if the GFPC ultimately finds the patent invalid.