Micron Could Pay $1.3 Billion in Damages to HBM Patent Holder

Netlist, a company specializing in solid-state drives and modular memory subsystems for enterprise customers, recently emerged victorious in a patent infringement case against Micron. The US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas ruled in favor of Netlist, finding that certain Micron semiconductor-memory products violated two of Netlist's patents related to memory module performance enhancement technology.

The jury awarded Netlist a substantial sum of US$445 million in damages. Notably, the jurors also determined that Micron's infringement was wilful, potentially leading to a tripling of the award by the presiding judge. The patents at the center of the dispute are US Patent Nos. 7,619,912 and 11,093,417, with the infringing products identified as Micron DDR4 RDIMMs and DDR4 LRDIMMs.

Netlist disclosed that the damages cover the period from April 2021 to May 2024 for one patent and from August 2021 to May 2024 for the other. While Micron is expected to appeal the ruling, the legal battle over patent validity could prolong the resolution process. This legal victory follows Netlist's successful litigation against Samsung, where Chief Judge Rodney Gilstrap awarded US$303 million in damages for wilful infringement.

Chuck Hong, CEO of Netlist, emphasized the significance of their patents in the semiconductor industry, particularly in technologies like HBM and DDR5 crucial for generative AI computing. Despite the favorable ruling, Netlist faces challenges as some claims of the patents involved in the Samsung case have been struck down by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, necessitating a potential lengthy appeals process.

Looking ahead, Netlist's legal triumphs underscore the importance of intellectual property protection in the tech sector. As the company continues to defend its innovations and secure its position in the market, the outcomes of these legal battles will shape the landscape of memory technologies and AI computing in the years to come.