Sidense Granted all Claims by USPTO in Key Patent Dispute

Update: Synopsys Expands DesignWare IP Portfolio with Acquisition of Sidense Corporation (Oct. 17, 2017)

Landslide victory by Sidense in 1T OTP patent claims against Kilopass Technology

Ottawa, Canada – January 26, 2011 - Sidense Corp., a leading developer of Logic Non-Volatile Memory (LNVM) OTP IP cores, has won a quick decisive victory over Kilopass Technology in its attempt to invalidate Sidense's U.S. Patent No. 7,402,855 ('855) directed to Sidense's 1T OTP technology.

In May of last year, a Kilopass press release announced that it had asked the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) to grant inter partes re-examination of Sidense's '855 patent. According to the request, Sidense's patented technology consisted merely of known peripheral circuitries with prior art memory cell, and was invalid. With their own patents already cited in '855, Kilopass was seeking a ruling from the USPTO that would support their claim to Sidense technology and justify seeking damages in the district court for Sidense's willful patent infringement. In August, another Kilopass press release announced that the USPTO had granted their request for inter partes re-examination, and had also rejected all of Sidense's '855 claims.

Putting all of the foregoing to rest, the USPTO has now issued an "Action Closing Prosecution" of the '855 re-examination, which confirms that each of Sidense's original '855 patent claims is valid, and finds that all of Sidense's proposed new claims are patentable.

In this Action, the USPTO specifically confirmed the patentability of Sidense's patent claims over the Kilopass technology, which they asserted in both the USPTO re-examination and in the district court infringement proceedings. Because this was an inter partes re-examination, Kilopass has fully participated, presenting all of the foregoing arguments to the USPTO, who has now rejected them.

"I never doubted that our technology would prevail," said Wlodek Kurjanowicz, Sidense Founder, CTO, and inventor of the Sidense '855 patent. "This decision confirms the uniqueness of Sidense's one-transistor antifuse technology, and strengthens our rapidly expanding patent portfolio."

"This decision was as predictable as it is welcome," said Roger Cook, Sidense's lead attorney at Kilpatrick, Townsend & Stockton. "Kilopass has used its re-examination request to create fear and uncertainty among Sidense's customers and prospective customers, to slow Sidense's rapid market penetration with its unique 1T technology. That Sidense was able to achieve such a rapid and complete victory is just as much a testament to Sidense's technology as it is to the weakness of Kilopass' allegations. Kilopass may appeal, to delay the inevitable, but this was an inter partes proceedings, so that Kilopass made its own arguments, and commented on all of Sidense's arguments. Kilopass has plainly had its day in court on this subject."

"Sidense is gratified by this decision," added Xerxes Wania, Sidense President and CEO. "Most of our customers and partners have done their homework regarding our 1T technology and find that it is distinctly different from other antifuse OTP technologies. They can also look beyond Kilopass' attempts to spread fear and uncertainty in the marketplace over the past few years. Sidense continues to be the only known, commercially available 1T- OTP supplier in the market and we welcome the USPTO’s decision."

About Sidense Corp.

Sidense Corp. provides secure, very dense and reliable non-volatile, one-time programmable (OTP) memory IP for use in standard-logic CMOS processes with no additional masks or process steps required and no impact on product yield. The Company's innovative one-transistor 1T-Fuse™ architecture provides the industry's smallest footprint, most reliable and lowest power Logic Non-Volatile Memory (NVM) IP solution. With over 70 patents granted or pending, Sidense OTP provides a field-programmable alternative solution to Flash, mask ROM and eFuse in many OTP and MTP applications.

Sidense SiPROM, SLP and ULP memory products, embedded in over 150 customer designs, are available from 180nm down to 40nm and are scalable to 28nm and below. The IP is offered at and has been adopted by all top-tier semiconductor foundries and selected IDMs. Customers are using Sidense OTP for analog trimming, code storage, encryption keys such as HDCP, WHDI, RFID and Chip ID, medical, automotive, and configurable processors and logic.  For more information, please visit www.sidense.com.