Micron Technology, the world’s largest chip manufacturer, has been ordered to pay $445 million to Netlist as compensation for a patent infringement case involving memory module technology for high-performance computing.
The US District Court jury in Eastern Texas decided that Micron’s products, specifically its memory chips, infringed upon two Netlist patents tied to the enhanced capacity and performance of memory chips. The jury also determined that Micron’s patent infringement was intentional, which could have increased the compensation up to $1.335 billion, as per a report by Reuters.
Netlist’s win against Micron marks the largest victory in the history of semiconductor memory patent disputes and the second-largest patent infringement compensation awarded by a Texas Eastern District Court.
Last year, Netlist won a similar case against Samsung involving the same patents – high-performance memory technology – and received a compensation of $303 million. The current triumph over another industry giant demonstrates the firm’s determination to defend its patents.
Micron, a key player in the computer memory market, has experienced an increased demand for its chips used in artificial intelligence applications. Still, the recent legal defeat due to patent infringement could slow this upward trend and damage Micron’s reputation as an innovative company. Micron’s representatives have yet to make a comment on the verdict.
In contrast, the smaller California-based Netlist has been actively defending its patents in the courts in recent years. This new victory will result in substantial income from the lawsuits and allow the company to continue developing cutting-edge memory technologies. “We are grateful to the court for its work and recognition of the importance of Netlist’s innovations,” said Netlist’s attorney, Jason Sheasby.
