Patent troll recordsdata $480 million infringement lawsuit in opposition to Micron Expertise in obvious “AI proxy battle”

Briefly: Patent trolls are firms that don’t produce any merchandise. As a substitute, they purchase up and maintain onto patents solely to sue for revenue. It occurs always, however a Korean publication factors out that what we see as trolling is definitely a battle between rivals waged by proxy. It is a captivating viewpoint.

A South Korean firm referred to as Mimir IP is suing US reminiscence maker Micron Expertise for infringing on its patents. It filed its criticism with the Worldwide Commerce Fee and the US District Courtroom for the Japanese District of Texas. The lawsuit additionally names a number of firms, together with Tesla, Dell, HP, and Lenovo, as secondary defendants for his or her use of Micron parts.

The Korea Financial Each day (KED) describes Mimir IP as a non-practicing entity (NPE) – what we name a patent troll. Mimir makes its cash by buying patents after which turning a revenue by suing firms utilizing the patented gadget or expertise.

In Could alone, Mimir purchased about 1,500 patents from SK Hynix. The corporate wasted no time submitting a lawsuit utilizing six involving “circuits, voltage measurement units and non-volatile reminiscence units.” Whereas KED did not point out particular calls for, it estimated compensation may attain $480 million if the court docket finally ends up ruling in favor of Mimir IP. The decide may additionally power the defendants to signal licensing agreements with Mimir.

Firms steadily promote patents to trolls to struggle rivals by proxy. notes KED. Just lately, it has observed an uptick in NPE exercise presumably attributable to the continued AI increase. The three greatest DRAM suppliers – Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron – have all loaded the NPE cannons within the final 12 months, so to talk.

In June 2023, Samsung Electronics handed over rights to 96 of its patents to IKT, an NPE affiliated with Samsung Show. The transfer is taken into account preparation for a proxy authorized battle. This assumption is supported by an identical deal in 2022 when Intel sued Samsung and TSMC for infringement by way of patent administration firm Daedalus Prime.

Micron may need begun this newer battle when it offered about 400 patents to NPE Lodestar Licensing Group in March. It was the primary time in 11 years that Micron offloaded a cache of patents to a holding firm. Officers speculate that the Mimir lawsuit is perhaps a preemptive strike because it seems like Micron is getting ready for comparable authorized actions.

“SK Hynix and Micron are DRAM rivals. The struggle over trade hegemony is spreading past expertise competitors to patent rivalry,” an unnamed trade official informed KED.

Will probably be fascinating to see if Lodestar certainly recordsdata an infringement lawsuit within the speedy future. This viewpoint provides an entire totally different perspective to patent trolls and their doubtful actions.