By Blake Brittain
(Reuters) – Chipmaker Micron Technology owes computer memory company Netlist $445 million in damages for violating Netlist’s patent rights to memory module technology for high-performance computing, a U.S. jury said on Thursday.
Jurors in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas agreed with Netlist that Micron’s semiconductor memory products infringe two Netlist patents related to technology for improving the capacity and performance of memory modules.
The jury also concluded that Micron willfully infringed the patents, which could result in a judge multiplying damages by up to three times.
Micron representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the verdict.
“We are grateful for the jury’s service and their recognition of the importance of Netlist’s innovation,” Netlist attorney Jason Sheasby said in a statement.
Netlist won a $303 million judgment against Samsung in the same court last year in a related dispute over patents on high-performance computer memories.
The stock price of Boise, Idaho-based Micron has soared this year on demand for its chips used to power artificial intelligence technology. Irvine, California-based Netlist sued Micron in 2022, alleging three of its semiconductor memory module lines infringed on its patents.
Micron denied the allegations and raised several defenses, including arguments that the patents were invalid.
A U.S. Patent and Trademark Office tribunal invalidated one of the patents in April, which could ultimately reduce the size of the verdict.
(Reporting by Blake Brittain in Washington; Editing by David Bario and Lincoln Feast)
