Intel is Sued by China Microelectronics Institute for Allegedly Patent Infringement in FinFET Design
Intel's situation at the moment is not positive, with a lot of problems. Now the company adds a new front when it receives a lawsuit from China for infringing patents. The Institute of Microelectronics of the China Science Agency has sued Intel for making use of its patents. The truth is that everything contains a tone of irony, at least, curious.
Specifically, Intel would have infringed patent 201110240931.5 that has to do with FinFET technology. This patent dates from 2011 and they claim about 24.3 million dollars to change in royalties. Intel has also been asked to cover the costs of the litigation, in addition to the payment of royalties.
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Intel is sued in China for patent infringement
In the absence of the accusations being verified, there is something quite strange in all this and it is the quantity demanded. The amount requested seems quite ridiculous considering that during 9 years Intel has manufactured millions of processors under the FinFET process. Normally companies usually request multimillion dollar amounts, not such a relatively small sum.
This cited FinFET patent relates to an invention related to this manufacturing process. Note that the China Institute of Microelectronics has an important weight in terms of FinFET patents. LexInnova, a patent consultancy, in 2015 indicated that the Chinese Institute ranked 11th for field patent application. Also, highlighted after the evaluation of patents as the first in the world.
According to the data, the Chinese Institute of Microelectronics has filed more than 5.000 patent applications in China. In addition, they have filed more than 500 foreign patent applications, 158 transferred patents and more than 1500 patent licenses in the field of integrated circuits, hi-fi devices and circuits and the Internet of Things. Come on, it doesn't look like a joke.
[irp]Source: MD
