Nanya Technology Corp (南亞科技), the nation’s top DRAM maker, yesterday said it was mulling countermeasures following Elpida Memory Inc’s filing of a lawsuit accusing it of patent infringement.
Japan’s top memory chipmaker said earlier yesterday it had filed a complaint against Nanya Technology and its US unit in the Northern District Court of California, accusing the Taiwanese chipmaker of illegally using four of its patented technologies relating to DRAM manufacturing, according to a statement posted on its Web site.
Tokyo-based Elpida sought an unspecified amount of damages from Nanya Technology and demanded that the court stop Nanya from further infringing on its patents.
“It is the first time Elpida has filed a patent lawsuit against Nanya Technology,” Nanya Technology spokesman Pai Pei-lin (白培霖) said by telephone. “We have not received the complaint from the court yet. We will take action to counter this case after we have obtained a full understanding of the lawsuit.”
Pai said the lawsuit would not have a material impact on Nanya Technology’s operations and was unlikely to lead to a ban on the firm’s exports to the US.
Elpida works in partnership with other Taiwanese chipmakers, licensing its technologies to Powerchip Technology Corp (力晶科技) and ProMOS Technologies Inc (茂德科技) in exchange for access to their capacities.
Separately, Pai said DRAM prices remained under pressure this month as demand from customers remained sluggish.
As prices are already close to most DRAM makers’ cost levels, Pai said the firm expected the rate of decline to decelerate.
“The price drop will not be as drastic as in August,” Pai said. “[Prices] are approaching the bottom ... and the drop in spot prices are nearing an end.”
DRAM prices fell about 20 percent last month from July, he said.
The firm usually negotiates prices with clients twice a month, but more customers now favor setting prices once a month, Pai said.
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