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[Alpha Biz= Reporter Kim Sangjin] Samsung Electronics has been ordered to pay $116 million (approximately 166 billion KRW) in damages to U.S. semiconductor company Netlist following a patent infringement lawsuit related to memory technology, according to reports from local media.

On the 24th, major foreign news outlets reported that a jury in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas ruled against Samsung in the patent lawsuit between the two companies.

Netlist filed the lawsuit in 2021, claiming that Samsung’s memory technology used in cloud computing servers infringed on Netlist's patents. The company argued that Samsung took its technology after collaborating on a project. According to Netlist, the patents in question cover high-bandwidth memory (HBM) and DDR5 technologies, both of which are integral to generative AI applications.

In response, Samsung argued that the patents were invalid and that its technology operated differently from Netlist's patented technology. Samsung had also filed for patent invalidation proceedings and sued Netlist in Delaware, claiming that Netlist violated its obligation to provide fair licenses for technologies essential to international standards.

In August of the previous year, the Texas court ruled in favor of Netlist, ordering Samsung to pay $301 million (approximately 4.2 trillion KRW) in damages.

After the ruling, Samsung filed post-trial motions, but the court rejected them in July, upholding the decision. The jury found that Samsung's patent infringement was willful, and some media outlets suggest that the judge could increase the payment by up to three times the original amount.

Netlist, based in Irvine, California, was founded by Hong Chun-ki, who previously worked at LG Semiconductor. In May, Netlist won a separate lawsuit against Micron over the same patent, securing a $445 million (approximately 6.25 trillion KRW) payout.

 

 

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