On 7 February 2024, the Düsseldorf Regional Court ruled against Intel Deutschland GmbH (case no. 4c O 61/22; "Intel") and three leading manufacturers of laptops, desktop PCs and servers (case nos. 4c O 58/22, 4c O 59/22, 4c O 60/22) for infringement of the German part of European patent EP 3 376 653 B1 and granted all claims filed by R2 Semiconductor Inc. 

The judgement prohibits Intel inter alia from distributing processors that implement the FIVR technology described in the patent in the Federal Republic of Germany. These include in particular the processors of the Ice Lake family (specifically the Intel Core processors i3, i5 and i7 from the 10th generation and the scalable Intel Xeon server processors from the 3rd generation), the Tiger Lake family and the Alder Lake family. Accordingly, the other defendants are inter alia prohibited from distributing, in the Federal Republic of Germany, laptops, desktop PCs and having said processors. 

Furthermore, the Düsseldorf Regional Court ordered the defendants to render accounts, recall and destroy infringing goods and provided declaratory relief regarding damages. The judgement is provisionally enforceable against provision of security. The defendants may appeal against the judgement.

R2 Semiconductor is a leading innovator in the field of high-frequency semiconductor technology for power management. Since its founding in 2008, its innovations have changed the fundamentals of the power management industry. Its technology enables consumer electronic devices to operate at higher power, bandwidth and efficiency while generating less heat and improving battery life. EP 3 376 653, which she applied for and successfully enforced before the Düsseldorf Regional Court, relates to a voltage regulator circuit with a special circuit arrangement to protect against voltage peaks. 

Intel has filed a nullity action against the patent in suit with the Federal Patent Court (Ref. 4 Ni 14/23). In these proceedings, the Federal Patent Court has already issued a qualified opinion according to which the nullity action has no prospect of success. 

Representatives of R2 Semiconductor:
Eisenführ Speiser (Hamburg, Berlin)

Sönke Scheltz (Attorney-at-law, Specialised lawyer for Intellectual Property rights, Representative before the UPC, Partner)
Dr Ludger Eckey (Patent Attorney, European Patent Attorney, Representative before the UPC, Partner)
Stefan Wiethoff (Patent Attorney, European Patent Attorney, Representative before the UPC, Partner)

Bardehle Pagenberg (Hamburg, Munich)
Dr Volkmar Henke (Attorney-at-law, Specialist lawyer for Intellectual Property rights, Representative before the UPC, Partner)
Tobias Kaufmann (Patent Attorney, European Patent Attorney, Representative before the UPC, Partner)
Anita Peter (Attorney-at-law, Representative before the UPC, Counsel)
Daniel Werner (Patent Attorney, European Patent Attorney, Representative before the UPC)

Representatives of Intel:
Hoyng ROKH Monegier (Düsseldorf, Munich)
Klaus Haft (Attorney-at-law, Representative before the UPC, Partner)
Carina Höfer (Attorney-at-law, Counsel)
Max von Leitner (Attorney-at-law, Associate)
Clara Berrisch (Attorney-at-law, Associate)

Samson & Partner (Munich)
Dr. Wolfgang Lippich (Patent Attorney, European Patent Attorney)

4c. Civil Chamber of the Düsseldorf Regional Court:
Presiding Judge Klepsch
Judge Wimmers
Judge Dr Janich