Macronix settles IPR dispute with Spansion in US

Macronix International Inc (旺宏電子), one of the country's leading flash memory chipmakers, said it has settled patent and trademark infringement lawsuits with rival Spansion Inc, ending the year-long intellectual property rights (IPR) dispute.

In a filing to the Taiwan Stock Exchange on Saturday night, Macronix chairman Miin Wu (吳敏求) said the company had resolved the legal disputes with Spansion Inc and its unit Spansion LLC, which involved claims of false advertising, trademark dilution and copyright violations.

The settlement boosted the price of Macronix's American Depository Receipts which were up 1.35 percent to US$3.75 on Saturday.

Spansion, the world's largest pure-play provider of flash memory solutions, sued Macronix two times last year over trade disputes for flash memory chips.

Flash memory -- a form of non-volatile computer memory that can be electrically erased and reprogrammed -- is used mainly in portable music players, mobile phones and other electronics products.

Spansion first sued Macronix in March last year for the improper use of the US company's brand name to market Macronix flash memory products and requested more than US$100 million in damages from the firm.

Then last May, Sunnyvale, California-based Spansion filed another lawsuit with the US District Court in North California, claiming Macronix and its US subsidiaries broke IPR law by misusing its patent.

Wu did not say weather Macronix would pay any damages or how much they would be. The two companies have agreed to settle the dispute on undisclosed terms and Spansion has dismissed the litigation with prejudice, according to the filing.

In addition to the damages, Spansion last year requested that the court forfeit all the profits obtained by Macronix and its US subsidiaries from the alleged illegal activities.

Spansion accused Macronix of deceiving customers into believing Macronix was an authorized second source for Spansion's products, or deliberately marketing its products as fully compatible with Spansion's.

"Macronix has invested tremendously in its own trademarked products in the Flash marketplace, and it's Macronix's consistent position to respect the trademarks of other companies in the industry," said Billie Chen (陳碧莉), director of the Intellectual Property & Legal Office of Macronix.