Katana Silicon Technologies suing Samsung

According to a media report by WIPR, the complaint, filed May 31 in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas by KTS, an affiliate of Katana Longhorn IP, said Samsung and three of its subsidiaries, Samsung Electronics America, Samsung Semiconductor and Samsung Austin Semiconductor are involved in the manufacture of smartphones and tablets that infringe on more than 20 claims of its patents. In its filing, Katana alleged Samsung’s infringement was willful and deliberate. The two patents in dispute (U.S. numbers 6,291,861 and 6,677,212) relate to the “design and process of fabricating semiconductor devices.” According to Katana, the patents in questions cover technology that is used by Samsung to create processor chips for its Galaxy mobile phones and Galaxy tablets. WIPR reported that Katana argued that Samsung has numerous lawyers who regularly review patents relevant to the technology in suit, and that the company has “intimate knowledge of the art in fields relevant to this civil action.” Aside from the technology being used in its devices, Katana said Samsung also makes and sells “infringing semiconductor” products to third parties. The company is asking the court for a declaration of infringement as well as damages, and a payment of ongoing royalties for any continued infringement. Last week, in an unrelated case, Longhorn IP’s Lone Star Silicon Innovations LLC (LSSI) subsidiary received a favorable ruling from the Federal Circuit related to its Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. The Federal Court vacated the dismissal of the case, paving the way for further proceedings consistent with the opinion. The case relates to a semiconductor patents lawsuit LSSI filed against several defendants including United Microelectronics Corporation (UMC) and Nanya Technology Corporation.