Patent Chief Rejects Chinese Firm’s Challenge Over Micron Chips

The head of the US Patent and Trademark Office threw out an administrative tribunal’s decision to consider a Chinese semiconductor firm’s challenges against US-based Micron Technology Inc.’s protected methods for circuits and memory devices.

Yangtze Memory Technologies Co. didn’t clearly explain whether it was a company or controlled by the Chinese government, PTO Director John Squires ruled Thursday in the Patent Trial and Appeal Board. A November order from the director had required YMTC to explain why its challenges against US Patent Nos. 8,945,996 and 10,872,903 should proceed despite the company’s blacklisting by the US Commerce Department in 2022 ...