U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Extends Reexamination of Tessera (TSRA) Patent

August 26, 2008 4:12 PM EDT

Tessera Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq: TSRA) announced the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) on August 21, 2008, issued a third office action in the ongoing inter partes reexamination of Tessera's U.S. Patent No. 6,465,893 (the '893 patent). The patent relates to semiconductor packaging technologies used in a variety of applications. The patent is not being asserted in any of the company's current International Trade Commission (ITC) actions.

The examiners' decision, which rejects certain claims of the '893 patent, is neither an Action Closing Prosecution (ACP) nor a Right of Appeal Notice. It is a third non-final office action that reopens the prosecution and gives Tessera the opportunity to respond within two months to issues raised by the examiners in the rejection. An ACP was issued by the examiners on February 15, 2008, and, following review of Tessera's submission in response to that ACP, the examiner has issued this office action which does not close prosecution but allows Tessera another opportunity to respond to the examiner. Following review of Tessera's submission in response to this office action, the examiners may issue another office action or an ACP. There is no deadline for further action by the examiners. Tessera anticipates it ultimately may be required to appeal the examiners' decision.

According to a recent study of inter partes reexamination statistics by the Institute for Progress, the average duration of inter partes reexaminations where appeals are involved is five to eight years. If the claims of the '893 patent continue to be rejected, Tessera would appeal the examiners' decision, which means the reexamination of the '893 patent likely will not be completed before the '893 patent expires in September 2010. The claims of a patent are valid until a reexamination certificate cancelling the claims is issued. A certificate can only be issued after all actions closing prosecution are concluded, and all appeals have been exhausted.[SM]

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