Update: Synopsys Expands DesignWare IP Portfolio with Acquisition of Kilopass Technology (Jan. 10, 2018)
Patent Office's Confirmation of Kilopass' '751 Patent & Latest Court Ruling Crumbles "Invalidity" Defense
SANTA CLARA, CA, Nov 03, 2011 -- Kilopass Technology Inc., a leading provider of semiconductor logic non-volatile memory (NVM) intellectual property (IP), today announced that the U.S. District Court denied Sidense's motion to amend its invalidity defense relating to Kilopass' Patent Number US 6,940,751 ('751). Sidense's revised invalidity contention argued Kilopass had not commercialized a 1T NVM IP, after the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) Ruling confirmed all the claims of the '751 patent. The court ruled enablement of a patent is satisfied with "any mode of making and using the claimed invention," commercialization is not required. Kilopass has satisfied enablement with multiple successfully produced chips containing the 1T antifuse bitcell detailed in the '751, 6,856,540 ('540) and 6,777,757 ('757) patents. This ruling will limit Sidense's defense options with respect to the '751 patent at the jury trial in September 2012.
In a patent litigation, the defendant has two primary defenses: that the patent is invalid or the product does not infringe. Sidense has tried to argue Kilopass' patents are invalid, both at the USPTO and the US District Court. In response to Sidense's request for re-examination, the USPTO confirmed all the claims of the '751 patent significantly weakening Sidense's invalidity argument. Now, with Judge Susan Illston's latest ruling, the invalidity argument is all but extinguished.
About Kilopass
Kilopass Technology, Inc., a leading supplier of embedded NVM intellectual property, leverages standard logic CMOS processes to deliver one-time programmable (OTP) and many-time programmable (MTP) memory. With 58 patents granted or pending and more than 800,000 wafers shipped from a dozen foundries and Integrated Device Manufacturers (IDM), Kilopass has more than 100 customers in applications ranging from storage of firmware and security codes to calibration data and other application-critical information. The company is headquartered in Santa Clara, Calif. For more information, visit www.kilopass.com or email info@kilopass.com.
