⚖ Oral Arguments, with Context

The Federal Circuit hears Vicor Corporation versus the International Trade Commission. Vicor supplied power-converter modules to Foxconn affiliates for use in electronic systems. It later alleged that imported systems used competing modules that infringed its patents, and sought relief from the Commission, or ITC, which can bar infringing imports. Foxconn answered that its purchase-order terms already gave it a patent license: permission to use the patented technology. An administrative law judge rejected that defense. The Commission reversed on that issue and found that two Foxconn affiliates had a license to the patent ending in seven-six-one. Vicor appeals. The dispute turns on routine sales paperwork. Foxconn's purchase orders included a license clause; Vicor's sales-order acknowledgments said no license was granted. The question is whether earlier delivery-date emails had already accepted Foxconn's terms. This is a battle of the forms: buyer and seller exchange documents with conflicting standard terms. Massachusetts's Uniform Commercial Code, or UCC, governs these sales contracts. Listen for when the contract became binding, and whether years of similar transactions change how the documents should be read.

Vicor Corporation v. International Trade Commission (No. 25-1616) — U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, argued November 3, 2026.