NPE sues Samsung over semiconductor devices
A Texas-based company has filed a patent suit against Samsung Electronics, alleging infringement of two of its patents.
In the complaint, filed Friday 31 May at the US District Court for the Western District of Texas, Katana Silicon Technologies said Samsung and three of its subsidiaries make smartphones and tablets which infringe more than 20 claims of its patents.
Katana is an affiliate of Longhorn IP, a non-practicing entity which describes itself as “an IP management and patent portfolio licencing company”.
The three subsidiaries named in the suit are Samsung Electronics America, Samsung Semiconductor and Samsung Austin Semiconductor.
The two patents in dispute (US numbers 6,291,861 and 6,677,212) relate to the “design and process of fabricating semiconductor devices”.
These patents cover technology which, according to Katana, is used by Samsung to create processor chips used in its Galaxy mobile phones and Galaxy tablets.
In its filing, Katana alleged Samsung’s infringement was wilful and deliberate.
It said Samsung has numerous lawyers who regularly review patents relevant to the technology in suit, and that the company has “intimate knowledge of the art in fields relevant to this civil action”.
Aside from the technology being used in its devices, Katana said Samsung also makes and sells “infringing semiconductor” products to third parties.
Katana asked the court for a declaration of infringement as well as damages. It also asked the court for a payment of ongoing royalties for any continued infringement.
In April 2019 alone, Longhorn IP entered into settlement agreements with South Korean semiconductor maker SK Hynix, Japanese semiconductor maker Renesas Electronics and smartphone manufacturer Motorola Mobility, over its semiconductor patents.
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