Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Technology Stocks : ARM Holdings (Advanced RISC Machines) plc. -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Mats Ericsson who wrote (609)	6/24/2001 9:21:35 PM
From: Jay King	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 912

picoTurbo and ARM clash over ruling in processor patent infringement suit Semiconductor Business News (06/20/01 19:39 p.m. EST) ArchivesMILPITAS, Calif.--RISC processor core supplier picoTurbo Inc. here on Wednesday claimed a U.S. judge has limited the scope of patents in a lawsuit filed by ARM Ltd. against the Milpitas company. But ARM, based in Cambridge, England, quickly countered those claims, saying the judge adopted its "construction" on the vast majority of the seven patents in the suit. Locked in a legal battle over intellectual property rights to RISC cores, the two companies are now fighting over the meaning of the judge's decisions in the "Markman hearing" of the case. The hearing is an early step in a patent lawsuit, in which the court establishes a meaning for the claim terms under dispute, according to ARM's legal staff. ARM said the claim construction hearing does not resolve disputes over patent infringement. But according to picoTurbo, the judge's ruling this week supports the company's position that it does not infringe on any of the seven patents involved in the case. The Silicon Valley startup copany said it has filed a motion for early summary judgment in the suit, which is pending in U.S. District Court in Oakland, Calif. But ARM quickly shot back and disputed picoTurbo's claim that the judge's ruling limited the scope of its patents in the case. In fact, the U.K. company today said the constructions adopted by the court established that the patents protect its RISC microprocessor architecture. The company said the ruling also established that if any potential cloner implements the ARM architecture, its products will fall within the claims of ARM's patents. ARM predicted victory over picoTurbo when the case goes to trial, which is expected to happen in early 2002. Last June, ARM expanded its patent infringement suit against picoTurbo, claiming that the startup's synthesizable RISC cores were violating seven patents. ARM also accused picoTurbo of unfair competition and false advertising in the promotion of its pT120, pT100, and pT110 processor cores (see June 23, 2000, story). But picoTurbo maintains that the "Markman" ruling by U.S. Judge Claudia Wilken is a key setback to ARM. "This ruling follows the recent trend of courts rejecting the efforts of aggressive IP providers who may use the legal system to achieve business objectives, claiming patent coverage to which they are not entitled," declared Chip Stearns, chief executive officer of picoTurbo. "Today's opinion squarely rejected the unjustifiably broad scope that ARM sought for its patents, and the effect is to confirm that these patents simply are not applicable to picoTurbo's products." The Silicon Valley startup said it has also asked the court to rule that ARM's patents were invalid, based on arguments made in the case siliconstrategies.com