Semiconductor patent fight escalates with injunction
Two semiconductor companies embroiled in a patent dispute in both China and the US have responded to a preliminary injunction, issued earlier this week, which prohibits Micron from selling allegedly infringing chip products in China.
Fujian Intermediate People’s Court of China issued the preliminary injunction against US-based Micron on Tuesday, July 3.
Taiwanese company United Microelectronics Corporation (UMC) said it filed patent infringement lawsuits against competitor Micron at mainland China courts in January 2018, alleging that specific memory applications used in Micron’s products infringe UMC’s patents covering memory chips.
Products incorporating the infringing technology include those in Micron’s ‘Crucial’ memory range, such as DRAM modules and solid state drives, according to UMC.
DRAM is a type of random access semiconductor memory, which stores each bit of data in a separate capacitor within an integrated circuit.
Micron claimed that the complaints were filed in “retaliation” to criminal indictments filed by Taiwanese authorities against UMC, and a civil lawsuit filed by Micron against UMC at the US District Court for the Northern District of California in December 2017.
In the California suit, Micron accused UMC of misappropriating trade secrets.
Micron is now prohibited from selling chip products in China under the terms of the preliminary injunction issued on Tuesday. The products include Micron’s PRC 26 DRAM and NAND flash memory range which includes hard drives and memory sticks.
Jason Wang, co-president of UMC, said he is “pleased” with the decision.
“UMC invests heavily in its IP and aggressively pursues any company that infringes UMC’s patents”, he added.
The Taiwanese company said it always “stands ready to pursue patent infringement litigation in order to obtain judgment and remedies to protect the IP rights of the company”.
Joel Poppen, senior vice president of legal affairs at Micron, said the company “strongly” believes that UMC’s patents are invalid and that Micron’s products do not infringe them.
The Fujian court “issued this preliminary ruling before allowing Micron an opportunity to present its defence”, Poppen said. He added that Micron will continue to “aggressively defend against these unfounded patent infringement claims”.
Micron said it has submitted “compelling evidence” to the Patent Review Board of China’s State Intellectual Property Office to show that UMC’s patents are invalid, as they cover technologies which were “previously developed and patented in other countries by other technology companies”.
Harvard University sued Micron in 2017, alleging that its chip manufacturing process infringes technology discovered by the university. The litigation was amicably settled in March of this year, and the terms of the settlement have not been made public.
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
Size-inclusive fashion brand accuses Target of TM infringement
