Tessera sues Sony, Renesas on IP use, UTAC-Taiwan on contract breach

(October 4, 2010 – BUSINESS WIRE) — Tessera Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSRA) took 2 new legal actions via its semiconductor packaging subsidiary, Tessera Inc., against Sony and Renesas, claiming lapsed licensing of its packaging technology. Tessera also logged a complaint in US District Court against UTAC (Taiwan) for breach of contract. Tessera provides a status update on ongoing legal actions.

Patent infringement suit against Sony Corporation and Renesas Electronics Corporation
On October 1, 2010, Tessera filed a complaint against Sony Corporation, Sony Electronics Inc., and Renesas Electronics Corporation (the merged entity of NEC Electronics and Renesas Technology Corp.) in the United States District Court for Delaware, alleging infringement of Tessera’s U.S. Patent No. 6,885,106. To avoid confusion, please note that this patent is different than the U.S. Patent No. 5,663,106 asserted in the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) Investigation No. 337-TA-630 (DRAM ITC Action).

“We filed this suit to protect our intellectual property and our licensees in good standing. Sony and Renesas Electronics’ license agreements have expired, yet they are continuing to sell products using our technology. Thus, they are infringing on our patents,” said Henry R. Nothhaft, chairman and CEO, Tessera. “Although discussions are ongoing with Sony and Renesas Electronics to secure their continued access to our semiconductor packaging technology through a licensing relationship with us, these discussions have not sufficiently advanced, thus necessitating this lawsuit.” Renesas began using Tessera packaging IP in 2003.

Breach of contract suit against UTAC-Taiwan
On September 30, 2010, Tessera filed a complaint in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California against UTAC (Taiwan) Corporation alleging breach of contract, breach of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing, and seeking declaratory relief. To avoid confusion, please note that UTAC (Taiwan) Corporation is not covered by the license agreement between Tessera and United Test and Assembly Center Ltd., which was announced on March 1, 2010.

Ongoing Tessera legal action:

Wireless ITC Action
The case is on appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit under the name Spansion, Inc. et al. v. International Trade Commission and Tessera, Inc., Case No. 2009-1460. On Sept. 24, 2010, the Limited Exclusion Order issued by the ITC against ATI Technologies, Freescale Semiconductor, Inc., Qualcomm, Inc., Spansion, Inc., Spansion, LLC and STMicroelectronics N.V. ended, due to the expiration of the two patents on which the order was based. These patents were U.S. Patent No. 5,852,326 and U.S. Patent No. 6,433,419. Tessera’s District Court cases against the respondents in the Wireless ITC Action remain stayed pending resolution of all appeals.

DRAM ITC Action
The case is on appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit under the name Tessera, Inc. v. International Trade Commission, Case No. 2010-1176. Briefing on appeal before the Federal Circuit has been completed, but oral argument has not yet been scheduled.

Tessera brought the DRAM ITC Action against certain DRAM manufacturers including, for example, Acer, Inc., Centon Electronics, Inc., Elpida Memory, Inc., Kingston Technology Co., Inc., Nanya Technology Corporation, Powerchip Semiconductor Corp., ProMOS Technologies Inc., Ramaxel Technology Ltd., Smart Modular Technologies, Inc., and TwinMOS Technologies, Inc. Tessera asserted infringement of three Tessera patents, U.S. Patent No. 5,663,106, U.S. Patent No. 5,679,977, and U.S. Patent No. 6,133,627. Tessera’s District Court cases against the respondents in the DRAM ITC Action remain stayed pending resolution of all appeals.

Hynix Antitrust Case
This case remains pending in the Superior Court of the State of California. During the third quarter of 2010, there were four pretrial motion hearings related to this matter. An additional pretrial case management hearing will be held on Dec. 16, 2010. The Court has not yet set a trial date.

Patent Reexaminations
The reexaminations of the 5,852,326; 5,679,977; 6,433,419; 6,465,893 and 6,133,627 patents are continuing after the patents’ expiration on Sept. 24, 2010. There are claims for damages based on pre-expiration infringement in the District Court actions related to these patents. In addition, reexamination proceedings continue on other, unexpired Tessera patents including U.S. Patent No. 5,663,106.

Tessera Technologies Inc.’s micro-electronics enable smaller, higher-functionality devices through chip-scale, 3D and wafer-level packaging technology, as well as high-density substrate and silent air cooling technology. To learn more, go to www.tessera.com.

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