Samsung Writes Check to Spansion for $70 Million
April 7, 2009 by Alex
Filed under Patent Litigation
Earlier this afternoon, Spansion announced that it will receive $70 million from Samsung to settle current patent litigation. The original lawsuit was filed in November 2008, and was centered around flash memory which retains data when an electrical device is turned off. In addition, the two companies will also license their respective patent portfolios, according to Barron’s. However, the deal is still subject to bankruptcy court because Spansion has filed for Chapter 11.
The history of the dispute between Samsung and Spansion may only be a few months old, but in that time it has spanned across continents. Following the Spansion lawsuit in November, Samsung filed a patent infringement complaint last January in Japan. Yet, both lawsuits will be dismissed in accordance with the agreement, and neither company will admit liability.
Spansion shareholders enjoyed a nice boost after the deal was announced, as shares jumped 70%, to 23 cents.
e.Digital Announces New Patent License
January 8, 2009 by Alex
Filed under New Patents
e.Digital Corporation, which bills itself to be a leading technology innovator of portable entertainment systems and flash memory, announced earlier today that it has licensed its patent portfolio to another company. The announcement was made on e.Digital’s website, and although the terms of the agreement are confidential, it did state that e.Digital is receiving a one-time licensing fee.
While the company that is teaming up with e.Digital has not been disclosed, e.Digital’s Flash-R patent portfolio covers certain aspects of the use of flash memory. e.Digital first revealed their portable recorded with removable flash memory in 1993, and boasts that its portfolio is essential to many consumer electronics that use flash memory.
“We are pleased to have entered into the third licensing agreement of our flash memory-related intellectual property this fiscal year,” commented Robert Putnam, senior vice president of e.Digital Corporation. “We expect further portfolio activity this quarter and throughout our next fiscal year.”
