Commitments and Contingencies

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2021

Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]

15. COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

As of December 31, 2021, we had a total of approximately $32,949,000 of capital

expenditure commitments, principally for manufacturing and production equipment, which we intend to fund with existing cash, and

approximately $4,803,000 of capital expenditure items which had been received and included in Property, plant and equipment in the accompanying Consolidated Balance Sheets, but not yet paid for.

The Company is the defendant in a patent infringement lawsuit originally filed on January 28, 2011 by SynQor, Inc. (“SynQor”) in the U.S. District Court (the “District Court”) for the Eastern District of Texas (the “Texas Action”). The complaint, as amended, alleges that the Company’s products, including but not limited to, unregulated bus converters used in intermediate bus architecture power supply systems, infringe SynQor’s U.S. patent numbers 7,072,190, 7,272,021, 7,564,702, and 8,023,290 (“the ‘190 patent”, “the ‘021 patent”, “the ‘702 patent”, and “the ‘290 patent”, respectively). SynQor’s complaint sought an injunction against further infringement and an award of unspecified compensatory and enhanced damages, interest, costs and attorney fees. The Company has denied that its products infringe any of the SynQor patents, and has asserted that the SynQor patents are invalid and/or unenforceable. The Company has also asserted counterclaims seeking damages from SynQor for deceptive trade practices and tortious interference with prospective economic advantage arising from SynQor’s attempted enforcement of its patents against the Company.

On November 24, 2015, the District Court ordered the Texas Action stayed pending completion of certain inter partes reexamination (“IPRx”) proceedings initiated by the Company at the United States Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”). In these IPRx proceedings, the Company challenged the validity of the SynQor patent claims asserted in the Texas Action. On November 16, 2021 the District Court issued an order lifting the stay. At a hearing on February 2, 2022, the District Court issued an order denying all pending summary judgment and other

pre-trial

motions without prejudice, and instructed the parties to propose a new case schedule with a trial date of October 17, 2022. The District Court further authorized Vicor to file new motions for summary judgment, to be considered on an expedited schedule. Vicor filed a motion for summary judgment of

non-infringement

on February 4, 2022. The Court has not yet ruled on that motion.

The current status of the IPRx proceedings is as follows:

•

190 patent: Certain claims of the ‘190 patent were found unpatentable by the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals (“Federal Circuit”) in a decision issued on March 13, 2015. The court remanded the remaining claims to the USPTO for further consideration. On February 20, 2019, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (“PTAB”) of the USPTO issued a decision finding that all of the remaining challenged claims were unpatentable. SynQor appealed that decision. On February 22, 2021, the Federal Circuit issued a decision in that appeal. In a

2-1

ruling, the Federal Circuit vacated and remanded the PTAB’s decision, finding that the reasoning the PTAB had relied on in reaching its decision was precluded by certain prior PTAB rulings regarding the ‘290 and ‘702 patents and remanded the case to the PTAB for further proceedings. On April 7, 2021, the Company filed a petition for panel rehearing and rehearing en banc of the Federal Circuit’s February 22, 2021 decision. The Federal Circuit denied that petition on June 7, 2021. Accordingly, that matter has been remanded to the PTAB for further proceedings.

•

‘021 patent: On August 30, 2017, the Federal Circuit issued a final decision finding all of the asserted claims of the ‘021 patent unpatentable.

•

‘702 patent: On August 30, 2017, the Federal Circuit issued a final decision finding all of the asserted claims of the ‘702 patent to be patentable.

•

‘290 patent: On June 16, 2021, the PTAB issued a decision finding all of the claims of the ‘290 patent unpatentable. SynQor has filed an appeal of that decision to the Federal Circuit, where it remains pending.

On January 23, 2018, the

20-year

terms of the ‘190 patent, the ‘021 patent, the ‘702 patent and the ‘290 patent expired. As a consequence of these expirations, the Company cannot be liable under any of the SynQor patents for allegedly infringing activities occurring after that date. In addition, any amended claims that may issue as a result of any of the still-pending IPRx proceedings will have no effective term and cannot be the basis for any liability by the Company. As noted above, the IPRx’s relating to the asserted claims of the ‘190 and ‘290 patents remain pending or on appeal. In addition, SynQor attempted to add new claims during the IPRx of the ‘021 patent. Those claims were rejected by the PTAB. SynQor subsequently filed an appeal with the Federal Circuit seeking to vacate that rejection as moot, in view of the expiry of the term of the ‘021 patent, and that appeal remains pending.

The Company continues to believe none of its products, including its unregulated bus converters, infringe any valid claim of the asserted SynQor patents, either alone or when used in an intermediate bus architecture implementation. The Company believes SynQor’s claims lack merit and, therefore, it continues to vigorously defend itself against SynQor’s patent infringement allegations. The Company does not believe a loss is probable or reasonably possible for this matter. If a loss were to be incurred, however, the Company cannot estimate the amount of possible loss or range of possible loss at this time.

In addition to the SynQor matter, the Company is involved in certain other litigation and claims incidental to the conduct of its business. While the outcome of lawsuits and claims against the Company cannot be predicted with certainty, management does not expect any current litigation or claims will have a material adverse impact on the Company’s financial position or results of operations.