Intellectual property
MOSAID Technologies has filed a proposed Stipulated Order of Dismissal for all infringement claims with respect to US patent No.6,067,272 covering a delay locked loop (DLL) circuit for use in synchronous DRAM. This order effectively removes the DLL patent from the current litigation against Infineon.
An agreement signed by MOSAID and Infineon precludes reassertion of the patent until the conclusion of the current litigation. The DLL patent is one of ten patents that MOSAID claimed were infringed by Infineon's DRAM products.
With the removal of the DLL patent from the Infineon litigation, the remaining nine patents are common to MOSAID's litigation with Samsung. These nine patents have been addressed in the claim construction phase, known in the USA as the "Markman hearing".
"We have decided to remove the DLL patent from our case against Infineon to avoid delays in the litigation process which would result from the requirement for separate fact discovery and claim construction proceedings relating to the DLL," says George Cwynar, president and CEO for MOSAID. "We continue to believe in the strength of our infringement case against Infineon with the nine patents at issue."
Fairchild Semiconductor has been named along with three product distribution companies as defendant in a lawsuit filed by Alcatel Canada in the Ontario Superior Court. The lawsuit alleges breach of contract, negligence and other claims and seeks CND200,000,000 in damages allegedly caused by Fairchild products. Fairchild believes that it has strong defences against all the claims.
In a related action, Fairchild filed a lawsuit in August 2002 against Sumitomo Bakelite Singapore, a supplier of mould compound (the plastic resin used to encapsulate semiconductor chips), and other related parties, alleging breach of contract, misrepresentation, negligence and other claims.
The action sought damages, including damages caused to Fairchild's customers as a result of mould compound supplied by Sumitomo. There have been numerous other lawsuits filed by a number of parties in several courts against Sumitomo alleging issues with the same mould compound as in Alcatel's suit against Fairchild. Fairchild's lawsuit against Sumitomo is pending in California.
Fairchild has also resolved similar claims relating to the mould compound matter with several of its leading customers. The company says that it is unable to reasonably estimate any range of possible loss that may be incurred as a result of further customer claims or payments.
