Micron Hit with $445 Million U.S. Verdict In Netlist Patent Case

Chipmaker Micron Technology owes computer-memory company Netlist $445 million in damages for violating Netlist's patent rights in memory-module technology for high-performance computing, a US jury said, Blake Brittain reported for Reuters.

Micron's semiconductor-memory products were ruled to infringe two Netlist patents related to technology for improving the capacity and performance of memory modules. I Photo: Micron Technology

Jurors in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas agreed with Netlist that Micron's semiconductor-memory products infringe two Netlist patents related to technology for improving the capacity and performance of memory modules.

The jury also concluded that Micron infringed the patents willfully, which could lead to a judge multiplying the damages by up to three times.

"We are grateful for the jury's service, and their recognition of the importance of Netlist's innovation," Netlist attorney Jason Sheasby said. Netlist won a $303 million verdict against Samsung in the same court last year in a related dispute over high-performance computer memory patents.