SST blasts appeals decision in suit with Atmel
By Silicon Strategies
09/18/2003 4:40 PM EST
URL: siliconstrategies.com
SUNNYVALE, Calif. -- Silicon Storage Technology Inc. (SST) today (Sept. 18, 2003) blasted the U.S. Court of Appeals decision to deny SST's appeal in its patent litigation with Atmel Corp.
In April of 2002, SST appealed the verdict relating to two of the patents previously purchased by Atmel from Seeq Technology: U.S. Patent Nos. 4,511,811 and 4,673,829. The jury awarded Atmel $36.5 million in damages and interest stemming from Atmel's patent infringement claim.
On September 16, 2003, SST received a copy of the decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals affirming the ruling.
The dispute with Atmel is over a design technology that has no bearing on SST's core memory technology, according to SST. The products at issue are certain of SST's early 29xx and 28xx series products based upon early designs and processes, which were in place prior to Atmel's acquisition of the Seeq patent portfolio, according to SST.
"These products have made up only a small portion of SST's sales in the past few years. Furthermore, because the '811 and '829 patents have expired, there can be no present or future threat of injunction or further impact to SST's business stemming from Atmel's enforcement of these patents," according to SST.
"We are very disappointed by the court's ruling," said Bing Yeh, president and CEO, in a statement. "As a result, we are evaluating our options and will decide shortly whether to continue with the appeals process. |
