Tessera Technologies has accused semiconductor company Broadcom of infringing eight of its patents.
Lawsuits have been filed in both the US District Court for the District of Delaware, as well as courts in Germany and the Netherlands. A complaint has also been filed at the International Trade Commission.
Tessera said it attempted to collaborate with Broadcom for several years to agree a licensing deal.
Tom Lacey, chief executive of Tessera, said: "At this point, we believe that litigation is necessary to defend our intellectual property rights. As we have said in connection with other legal matters, we remain willing to negotiate a resolution that fairly compensates Tessera and its shareholders for our valuable IP.
“However, we are also fully prepared to proceed through the entirety of the legal process, and we remain very confident in our ability to achieve a positive outcome.”