TESSERA TAKES LEGAL ACTION AGAINST SHARP AND TEXAS INSTRUMENTS FOR PATENT INFRINGEMENT
IP Company Seeks Ban on Import of Infringing Products
SAN JOSE, Calif. ? March 28, 2000 ? Tessera Inc., the semiconductor industry?s leading provider and licensor of chip-scale packaging (CSP) technology, today announced it has begun legal proceedings in the U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) and the Federal District Court against Texas Instruments (NYSE: TXN) and Japanese electronics giant Sharp for patent infringement.
"Tessera pioneered and patented the concept of allowing the elements of a chip-scale package to move relative to one another, enabling small package dimensions with high reliability. This concept forms the foundation for Tessera?s CSP technology and is the central issue of this action," said Chris Pickett, Tessera?s VP and general counsel. "Tessera expects to be fairly compensated for the use of its IP, which adds only a few pennies to the cost of a packaged chip. Tessera has an obligation to its shareholders and licensees to strongly defend this IP when necessary."
Texas Instruments took a Tessera license in late 1996, and in 1999 Tessera received information that pointed to serious breaches of this license by Texas Instruments. Tessera believes that Texas Instruments is currently shipping DSPs, used in wireless handsets and other applications, in a MicroStar? BGA package that incorporate Tessera?s IP, but for which Texas Instruments is not paying royalties. After approximately 10 months of repeated yet unsuccessful attempts by Tessera to resolve the dispute to a mutually satisfactory agreement, this license was terminated and Tessera was forced to take legal action.
Tessera also believes that Sharp is currently shipping Flash memory chips, used in wireless handsets and other consumer products, in a package incorporating Tessera?s IP for which Sharp does not have a license. Since Sharp only licensed Tessera?s æBGA? package technology and refused a broader license, Tessera had no alternative but to seek remedy with the USITC
"Over the past ten years Tessera has driven broad adoption of CSP technology and licensed over 30 industry-leading companies, including Amkor, Hitachi, Intel, Samsung, Sony and Toshiba. Until now, Tessera has never had to enforce its patents," said Bruce McWilliams, president and CEO of Tessera. "Tessera?s ability to continue to invest in R&D, drive standards and provide leading edge CSP solutions to the industry depends upon its protection of patented technology."
The suits have been filed with the USITC since this forum has experience and expertise in hearing patent infringement cases and should, therefore, bring about an expeditious and well-considered ruling on this matter. The IP Tessera is protecting in this case is covered under US Patent numbers 5,679,977 and 5,852,326. This action seeks an injunction against the import of infringing packaged chips and the OEM products that incorporate them. The Federal District Court action will proceed simultaneously
About Tessera
Tessera is the leading developer and licensor of chip-scale packaging technology to the semiconductor industry. The IP company?s technology sets new standards in performance, reliability, size and cost, and is ideal for high performance and space-constrained applications such as wireless handsets, PCs, 3D game consoles and other devices used to communicate and access the Internet
Tessera currently licenses its advanced packaging technology to over 30 assembly and semiconductor companies, including Amkor, AMD, ASE, ChipMOS, ChipPAC, EEMS, Hitachi, Hyundai, Infineon, Intel, IPAC, LG, Meicer, Mitsui High-tec, Samsung, Shinko, Sony, SPIL, ST Microelectronics and Toshiba. Tessera is based in San Jose, Calif. Additional information and media materials are available at www.tessera.com. |
