Toshiba aims to make Hynix pay for its patents
Japanese electronics giant Toshiba has filed suits against Hynix Semiconductor – the worlds largest DRAM producer - in Japan and the US, alleging infringement of its semiconductor memory patents.
In Japan, Toshiba is seeking damages against Hynix for violating three NAND-related patents, while in the US it is going after Hynix over alleged infringements of seven patents, three related to DRAM and four to NAND.
In both countries, Toshiba is pushing for injunctions against Hynix products that it claims have violated its patents.
The legal action follows a five year spell during which the two companies participated in a patent cross-licensing agreement. Toshiba and Hynix were unable to agree and extension to the deal once it expired at the end of 2002.
Subsequent attempts by the two firms to reach agreement over how much Hynix should pay Toshiba for access to the latters patents also failed, laying the ground for the current legal action.