+44 (0)24 7671 8970
More publications     •     Advertise with us     •     Contact us
*/
News Article

Court denies Synopsys’ request for preliminary injunction

News
Magma Design Automation Inc. announced that a motion by Synopsys Inc. seeking to impede a possible re-examination of two patents at issue in the companies' ongoing dispute was denied.

As a result of this denial, issued in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (U.S. PTO) may elect to re-examine the patents in question and could ultimately invalidate them.

"We're pleased the court reached this decision, and we consider it to be the correct one," said David Stanley, corporate vice president for Corporate Affairs at Magma. "We believe it is important to the industry and to the public that the patent office remains free to evaluate the validity of these patents."

Synopsys filed its motion after the U.S. PTO received a request to re-examine U.S. Patents 6,453,446 (the '446 patent) and 6,725,438 (the '438 patent), two of the three patents at issue in the lawsuit Synopsys filed against Magma just over two years ago. The motion sought either a stay of the re-examination of the '446 and '438 patents or a transfer of their ownership to Synopsys so it could participate in the re-examination process. The motion also sought to prevent Magma from filing a patent owner's statement as part of the re-examination process. The court denied Synopsys' motion without prejudice, meaning that Synopsys may renew the motion at a later time if conditions change.

In August, the U.S. PTO rejected all the claims in U.S. patent number 6,378,114, the third patent in question in this lawsuit. That action did not invalidate the patent but was an intermediate step in the re-examination process that could ultimately result in the patent being deemed invalid. Magma has stated previously that if all three patents at issue in the case are found invalid, the patent case could be dismissed.

×
Search the news archive

To close this popup you can press escape or click the close icon.
Logo
×
Logo
×
Register - Step 1

You may choose to subscribe to the Silicon Semiconductor Magazine, the Silicon Semiconductor Newsletter, or both. You may also request additional information if required, before submitting your application.


Please subscribe me to:

 

You chose the industry type of "Other"

Please enter the industry that you work in:
Please enter the industry that you work in: