Micron, Dell, HP win appeal over conflict claims tied to US patent official

A U.S. appeals court on Friday upheld U.S. Patent and Trademark Office rulings for Micron, Dell and HP, finding that the decisions could stand even though the attorney who represented the tech companies later became the office’s director. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit said the companies’ adversary in the USPTO case, patent owner Unification Technologies, had not shown that Kathi Vidal’s previous participation in the case influenced the administrative judges who invalidated its patents.