Blake Britten
(Reuters) – Chipmaker Micron Technology (NASDAQ:) owes debt to computer memory company Netlist (OTC:) $445 million in damages for infringing Netlist’s patents on high-performance computing memory module technology, a US jury announced Thursday.
A jury in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas agreed with Netlist that Micron’s semiconductor memory products infringed two Netlist patents related to technology for improving the capacity and performance of memory modules.
The jury also found that Micron willfully infringed the patents, which could lead the judge to nearly triple the damages.
Representatives for Micron did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the verdict.
“We are grateful for the jury’s work and their recognition of the importance of Netlist’s innovation,” Netlist attorney Jason Sheasby said in a statement.
Last year, Netlist won a $303 million verdict in the same court against Samsung (KS:) in a similar dispute over high-performance computer memory patents.
Boise, Idaho-based Micron’s stock price has risen this year due to demand for its chips used in artificial intelligence technologies. Irvine, California-based Netlist sued Micron in 2022, alleging that three of its memory semiconductor lines infringed its patents.
Micron has denied the allegations and has put forward several arguments in its defense, including arguments that the patents are invalid.
In April, a US Patent and Trademark Office judge invalidated one of the patents, which could ultimately reduce the size of the sentence.