The notice
According to the notice, Vicor Corporation of Andover, Massachusetts filed its complaint on September 9, 2026 and supplemented it on September 10. The complaint, as supplemented, alleges a violation of section 337 of the Tariff Act of 1930, 19 U.S.C. 1337, based on the importation into the United States, the sale for importation, and the sale within the United States after importation of certain vertical power delivery systems, components thereof, and computing systems containing the same, by reason of infringement of U.S. Patent 10,903,734. Vicor asks for a limited exclusion order and cease and desist orders. The Commission ordered institution on October 9, 2026, and the notice, FR Doc. 2026-20993, issued that day. Under 19 CFR 210.10(b)(1), an investigation is instituted when the notice is published in the Federal Register. This notice was published on October 14, 2026, at 91 Fed. Reg. 65254, so the investigation was instituted on that publication. The complaint was docketed on receipt as DN 3936.
Patent and claims in the investigation
The investigation will determine whether there is a violation of section 337(a)(1)(B) by reason of infringement of one or more of claims 1-8, 11-14, 18-26, 40-56, 65-71, 80, 81, 83, 84, 90-93, and 95 of the '734 patent, titled Delivering Power to Semiconductor Loads, and whether a domestic industry exists under section 337(a)(2). The instituted independent claims are 1, 2, 40, 45, 49, 53, 67, and 68.
Claim 1 covers a method of powering a semiconductor device. A power conversion module has conversion circuitry arranged in a multi-cell structure of conversion cells, the circuitry configured to convert power from a first voltage to a second, lower voltage, with the converter output terminals arranged in a first pattern and spacing. An interconnection module has x-input terminals on one side that align with that first pattern and x-output terminals on a surface of the opposite side in a second pattern, with a different spacing, that aligns with the power input terminals of the semiconductor device. The conversion module is assembled onto the interconnection module with each output terminal mated to an x-input terminal, the interconnection module is configured to provide electrical and mechanical translation between the two patterns, and the two modules are stacked into a module sandwich: the conversion module in a first layer, the terminal connections in a second, and the interconnection module in a third.
Claim 40 covers the corresponding apparatus: a semiconductor device with power input terminals, the same multi-cell power conversion module and interconnection module with differently spaced input and output patterns, the converter output terminals mated to the x-input terminals, and the conversion module, connections, and interconnection module stacked at first, second, and third levels.
The accused products
Under 19 CFR 210.10(b)(1), the notice's plain language description defines the scope of the investigation. Here it is "vertical power delivery systems and components thereof, used in data center server, artificial intelligence and cloud computing systems, to power artificial intelligence ('AI') accelerators, tensor processing units ('TPU'), graphical processing units ('GPU') and central processing units ('CPU'), and computing systems containing the same."
The respondents
The notice names 20 respondents: Delta Electronics, Inc.; Delta Electronics (Americas) Ltd.; DET Logistics (USA) Corporation; Infineon Technologies AG; Luxshare Precision Industry Co., Ltd.; Dongguan Luxshare Technology Co., Ltd. a/k/a Luxshare-Tech; Monolithic Power Systems, Inc.; Chengdu Monolithic Power Systems Co., Ltd.; MPS International (Shanghai) Ltd.; Flex Ltd.; Celestica Inc.; Quanta Computer Inc.; Quanta Cloud Technology Inc.; Quanta Cloud Technology USA LLC; Quanta Computer USA Inc.; Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. Ltd. (d/b/a Foxconn); Foxconn Industrial Internet Co. Ltd.; FII USA Inc. (a/k/a Foxconn Industrial Internet USA Inc.); Ingrasys Technology Inc.; and Ingrasys Technology USA Inc.
Domestic industry and procedure
The Commission said it is interested in the development of a thorough record on domestic industry to facilitate a holistic review of all relevant considerations. It said the presiding judge may wish to consider what information is needed to decide Vicor's domestic industry allegations under section 337(a)(3)(A), (B), and (C), based on an industry that exists or is in the process of being established, including the extent to which those allegations rely on expenditures made by third parties and the extent to which expenditures related to the domestic industry articles are made outside the United States by any entity. The Chief Administrative Law Judge will designate the presiding judge, and the Office of Unfair Import Investigations will not participate as a party. Under 19 CFR 201.16(e) and 210.13(a), responses will be considered if received within 20 days after the Commission serves the complaint and notice.
The parallel Texas cases
Vicor filed three district court suits on the '734 patent on September 8, 2026: Vicor Corp. v. Monolithic Power Systems, Inc., No. 7:26-cv-00364 (W.D. Tex.); Vicor Corp. v. Flex Ltd., No. 7:26-cv-00365 (W.D. Tex.); and Vicor Corp. v. Delta Electronics, Inc., No. 2:26-cv-00796 (E.D. Tex.). See the Vicor campaign hub for those filings.
What it means
The investigation runs on a single patent with 54 instituted claims, and the accused product description covers both vertical power delivery systems and components and the computing systems that contain them. The Commission's domestic industry instruction directs attention to how much of Vicor's claimed industry rests on third-party and overseas spending, so watch for discovery on those expenditures.
What to watch next
Watch for the presiding judge's designation and target date, the respondents' responses, and any requests to stay the Texas cases under 28 U.S.C. 1659, which requires a district court to stay claims involving the same issues at the timely request of a party that is also a respondent in the investigation.