Atmel files patent infringement suit against Infineon

Atmel's court filing alleges that Infineon's 8-bit, 16-bit and 32-bit microcontrollers infringe six Atmel patents. The allegedly-infringing Infineon products are for use in various industrial, commercial and automotive applications. Atmel's filing -- its first substantive response to a lawsuit Infineon filed on April 11, 2011 -- also denies Infineon's allegations and seeks a judicial declaration that each of the patents Infineon asserted against Atmel is invalid and not infringed. "Atmel has an extensive patent portfolio covering a broad range of microcontroller products. While we did not initiate this litigation, we will always respond strongly when confronted with unfounded infringement claims. After more closely evaluating the matter, we find that Infineon has used our intellectual property in many of its core products without our permission. We will prosecute these infringement claims aggressively, continue to review our portfolio, and fully defend ourselves against Infineon's baseless allegations," said Scott Wornow, Senior Vice President and Chief Legal Officer.