Semiconductor Patent Battle
According to industry sources on March 6, the United States International Trade Commission (USITC) closed Case 337-TA-1023 on January 16 by providing SK Hynix with its final statement that the company did not infringe upon Netlist’s patents.
Back in September 2016, Netlist filed a complaint with the USITC against SK Hynix, claiming that the South Korean company infringed upon six of its patents related to server DRAM modules and violated Section 337 of the Tariff Act of 1930.
The section of the act is to block a product in violation of a U.S. company’s or individual’s intellectual property rights from entering the United States. Once any violation of the section is reported, the USITC determines whether to initiate an investigation within 30 days in most cases. In the case of SK Hynix and Netlist, the USITC initiated the process on October 7, 2016.
The USITC made a preliminary determination on November 14 last year to acquit SK Hynix and the preliminary determination led to the final decision as it is after two months of deliberation.
Disputes between SK Hynix and Netlist are still ongoing though. Netlist filed lawsuits with the United States District Court for the Central District of California in August 2016 and June 2017 as well. In addition, it filed another complaint with the USITC in October last year and filed lawsuits in Munich and Beijing in July last year.