Efficient Power Conversion (EPC) announced that the Beijing IP Court has denied an appeal filed by Innoscience, reaffirming the validity of EPC’s Chinese Patent No. ZL201080015425.X, titled, ‘Compensated gate MISFET and method for fabricating the same’. This latest decision issued by the Beijing IP Court strengthens EP’s intellectual property protfolio and reinforces its position.
EPC first sued Innoscience back in 2023 in federal court and the International Trade Commission (ITC) for patent infringement. In response, Innoscience challenged the validity of the patents in the US and China. The China National Intellectual Property Administration upheld EPC’s validity and the ITC eventually found that Innoscience had infringed on EPC’s patents in November 2024.
The latest decision is another series of blows for Innoscience, as the Munich court recently ruled in favour of Infineon Technologies, in another patent infringement case.
Two of EPC’s patents covering enhancement-mode GaN field effect transistors (FETs) and their fabrication had been challenged by Innoscience. The China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) had previously validated both patents in April and May 2024, but Innoscience requested the decision concerning the compensated gate patent to be reconsidered.
“EPC’s innovations in GaN power devices reflect nearly 20 years of research and development,” said Alex Lidow, CEO and Co-Founder of EPC. “We welcome the Beijing IP Court’s decision as confirmation of the strength of our intellectual property.”
EPC continues to benefit from by the US International Trade Commission, which ruled that Innoscience infringed EPC’s intellectual property. That ruling remains in full force and effect and led to an exclusion order barring the importation of infringing Innoscience products into the US.
EPC’s GaN power transistors provide superior efficiency, faster switching speeds, and smaller footprints compared with legacy silicon devices. The validated patents are regarded as crucial to the structure and performance of modern enhancement-mode GaN FETs.
