Samsung ordered to pay US$118 million for infringing Netlist patents

A FEDERAL jury in Marshall, Texas, on Friday (Nov 22) awarded computer memory company Netlist US$118 million in damages from Samsung Electronics in a patent lawsuit over technology for improving data processing in high-performance memory products.

The verdict follows a US$303 million verdict against Samsung for Irvine, California-based Netlist in a related case last year.

Netlist also won US$445 million from chipmaker Micron in May in a separate lawsuit over some of the same patents.

Spokespeople for Samsung and Netlist did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the Friday verdict. The jury also determined that Samsung’s infringement was willful, which could lead to a judge increasing the award by up to three times.

Netlist sued Samsung in 2022, alleging that the Korean tech giant’s memory modules used in cloud computing servers and other data-intensive technology infringed its patents. Netlist said its innovations increase the power efficiency of memory modules and enable users to “derive useful information from vast amounts of data in a shorter period.”

Samsung denied the allegations, arguing that the patents were invalid and that its technology worked differently than Netlist’s inventions.

Samsung has also filed a related lawsuit in Delaware federal court accusing Netlist of breaking an obligation to offer fair licenses for technology required to comply with international standards. REUTERS

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