InvenSense Wins Patent Litigation Stay Ruling

Gyroscopic sensor maker InvenSense (NYSE: INVN  ) said yesterday that it won its motion to stay the patent litigation lawsuit filed by ST Microelectronics (NYSE: STM  ) . The United States District Court for the Northern California agreed with InvenSense that it is unnecessary to proceed with the lawsuit, because separate proceedings before the United States Patent Office challenging the validity of all of ST's patents was progressing.

ST Micro alleges InvenSense nfringed on nine of its MEMS three-axis gyroscope patents. In response, InvenSense requested that the patent office re-examine each of the nine patents based on questions of patentability. So far, the patent office has determined that substantial questions of patentability exist for seven of them, and patent office actions have already issued for four. In each of those office actions, the patent office has rejected all of ST's asserted claims.

According to the district court's order, the case is stayed until the United States Patent Office completes its re-examination process, and ST Microelectronics has completed any appeals of the patent offices' findings.

InvenSense vice president and CFO Alan Krock said, "The decision provides necessary time for the United States Patent Office to fully reevaluate ST's patents. Based upon our work and actual USPTO rulings in this case to date, we expect ST's patents to be found invalid under the USPTO re-examination proceedings."