Infineon and Elpida settle legal dispute

Infineon initiated proceedings in February 2010, when it filed a complaint against Elpida and Elpida’s customers in the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC). Elpida subsequently filed two lawsuits in the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Virginia. Infineon and Elpida have settled the dispute through a broad patent cross license relating to semiconductor technology. The specific terms and conditions of the license are confidential. “Infineon is pleased to have reached this agreement with Elpida, and we look forward to a lasting peace between the companies,” said Prof. Dr. Hermann Eul, Member of the Management Board, responsible for Sales, Marketing, Technology and R&D at Infineon Technologies AG. “This outcome is further affirmation of our ongoing efforts to protect our intellectual property rights and business interests.” About the case On February 19, 2010, Infineon Technologies AG and its subsidiary Infineon Technologies North America Corp. filed a complaint with the ITC against Elpida Memory Inc. Infineon stated that Elpida had infringed Infineon's patents covering key inventions in semiconductor processing and device manufacturing. Infineon's complaint with the ITC sought an exclusion order that would have barred from entry into the US all infringing DRAM chips and products that are imported by Elpida or Elpida's customers. On March 23, 2010, the ITC opened its investigation based on the complaint filed. On April 2, 2010, Elpida filed two patent infringement lawsuits against Infineon in the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Virginia.