Samsung ordered to pay $118 million for infringing Netlist patents

Netlist

22/11/2024 21:53

By Blake Brittain
       Nov 22 (Reuters) - A federal jury in Marshall, Texas, on
Friday awarded computer memory company Netlist  NLST.PK  $118
million in damages from Samsung Electronics  005930.KS  in a
patent lawsuit over technology for improving data processing in
high-performance memory products.
    The verdict follows a $303 million verdict against Samsung
for Irvine, California-based Netlist in a related case last
year. 
    Netlist also won $445 million from chipmaker Micron in May
in a separate lawsuit over some of the same patents.
    Spokespeople for Samsung and Netlist did not immediately
respond to requests for comment on the Friday verdict. The jury
also determined that Samsung's infringement was willful, which
could lead to a judge increasing the award by up to three times.
    Netlist sued Samsung in 2022, alleging that the Korean tech
giant's memory modules used in cloud computing servers and other
data-intensive technology infringed its patents. Netlist said
its innovations increase the power efficiency of memory modules
and enable users to "derive useful information from vast amounts
of data in a shorter period."
    Samsung denied the allegations, arguing that the patents
were invalid and that its technology worked differently than
Netlist's inventions.
    Samsung has also filed a related lawsuit in Delaware federal
court accusing Netlist of breaking an obligation to offer fair
licenses for technology required to comply with international
standards.

 (Reporting by Blake Brittain in Washington; Editing by Lisa
Shumaker and Jonathan Oatis)
 ((blake.brittain@tr.com; +1 (202) 938-5713))