Patent troll information $480 million infringement lawsuit towards Micron Know-how in obvious “AI proxy battle”

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

A South Korean firm known as Mimir IP is suing US reminiscence maker Micron Know-how for infringing on its patents. It filed its grievance with the Worldwide Commerce Fee and the US District Court docket for the Japanese District of Texas. The lawsuit additionally names a number of corporations, together with Tesla, Dell, HP, and Lenovo, as secondary defendants for his or her use of Micron elements.

The Korea Financial Every 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 corporations utilizing the patented gadget or know-how.

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 gadgets and non-volatile reminiscence gadgets.” Whereas KED did not point out particular calls for, it estimated compensation might attain $480 million if the court docket finally ends up ruling in favor of Mimir IP. The decide might additionally pressure the defendants to signal licensing agreements with Mimir.

Firms steadily promote patents to trolls to struggle opponents by proxy. notes KED. Lately, it has observed an uptick in NPE exercise presumably brought on by the continued AI growth. The three greatest DRAM suppliers – Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron – have all loaded the NPE cannons within the final yr, 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 the same deal in 2022 when Intel sued Samsung and TSMC for infringement by way of patent administration firm Daedalus Prime.

Micron may need begun this more moderen 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 could be a preemptive strike because it seems to be like Micron is getting ready for related authorized actions.

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

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