ON Semiconductor pays Power Integrations $175m to settle patent row
Semiconductor technology company Power Integrations has announced a settlement of its patent disputes with ON Semiconductor and its subsidiary, Fairchild Semiconductor, in which it will receive a payment of $175 million.
In an announcement yesterday, October 24, Power Integrations said the settlement will end 15-years of litigation between the companies, including lawsuits in Delaware, California, Taiwan and China. Neither company has granted licences to the other.
According to Power Integrations, Fairchild was found to have infringed a number of its patents, and that it subsequently won permanent injunctions covering hundreds of infringing products.
Additionally, Power Integrations said it has successfully defended itself against several countersuits, and that its patents have survived numerous validity and enforceability attacks.
The dispute dates back to 2009, when Power Integrations sued Fairchild Semiconductor for infringing its patent (US number 6,212,079).
CEO of Power Integrations, Balu Balakrishnan, welcomed the settlement.
“Our inventions are the result of enormous investments of human and financial resources, and we are committed to safeguarding our hard-earned intellectual property. We are gratified that we have prevailed in this effort, and we will continue to insist that competitors respect our intellectual property,” Balakrishnan said.
Frank Scherkenbach, a Fish & Richardson partner who led Power Integrations’ litigation, said he hopes that the $175 million settlement will serve as a deterrent against infringement by competitors.
"We have prevailed at every significant turn throughout these litigations, and we are thrilled that we could help Power Integrations achieve this important victory,” he said.
WIPR has contacted ON Semiconductor for comment.
Did you enjoy reading this story? Sign up to our free daily newsletters and get stories like this sent straight to your inbox.
Today's top stories:
US court gives Chinese chipmaker access to Micron’s trade secrets
Virgin accuses retailer of creating ‘sham’ entity to avoid paying court fees
