Patent Law

Punching the Clock

By Gary Odom and Jordan Kuhn

Taiwanese memory maker Nanya Technology started a losing patent war against Fujitsu. Licensing talks over DDR SDRAM chip patents fell apart in 2005. Nanya then sued Fujitsu in this country's tropical patent hot spot - Guam, for antitrust, asserting three patents, and a declaratory judgment (DJ) motion over 15 Fujitsu patents. Fujitsu shot back in Northern California with five patents, and a DJ for three Nanya patents.

Fujitsu also filed in Tokyo. Among other things, Nanya alleged that Fujitsu threatened to tie access to the Japanese market to Nanya's payment of royalties globally. In August 2007, Fujitsu bested Nanya in Tokyo district court, then got Japan Customs to block imports of the disputed chips. Nanya filed an appeal, but has now withdrawn the appeal, its access to the Japanese market effectively blocked.

Stateside, Guam gave way, with the Nanya-Fujitsu spat consolidated in Northern California, where Judge Claudia Wilken decided to have a go at the Fujitsu patent claims before dealing with Nanya's antitrust tirade.

Nanya took the fight to the USPTO, which agreed to reexamine at least one of the five disputed patents: 5,739,909.

However it ends, the fight likely will hurt Nanya more than Fujitsu.

DDR technology, which speeds memory access by riding the clock wave, became widespread in 2000.

Full post as published by The Patent Prospector on May 20, 2008 (boomark / email).