New York–Oct. 3, 2000–U.S. Philips Corp., a subsidiary of Royal Philips Electronics, has filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court in New York against six corporations for infringing on Philips’ U.S. Patent No. 4,689,740–covering devices and methods used with the Inter-Integrated Circuit Bus (I2C Bus).

Philips has a long-standing program to license its I2C patents to semiconductor manufacturers on what it says are “fair and reasonable terms.” The lawsuit is aimed at companies that have refused to take part in the program. Companies named in the lawsuit include Analog Devices, Inc.; Cirrus Logic, Inc.; Cypress Semiconductor Corp.; Fairchild Semiconductor Corp.; Linear Technology Corp.; and Standard Microsystems Corp.

A trial date has yet to be announced.