USPTO Validates One of Three Key Kilopass 1T Anti-Fuse Patents Asserted Against Sidense

Update: Synopsys Expands DesignWare IP Portfolio with Acquisition of Kilopass Technology (Jan. 10, 2018)

Re-examination Process Strengthens Kilopass Patent Case; Leaves Sidense Few Options

Santa Clara, Calif. –– February 3, 2011 –– Kilopass Technology Inc., a leading provider of semiconductor logic non-volatile memory (NVM) intellectual property (IP), today announced the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO) confirmed all claims in its 6,940,751 patent (‘751 patent) on the 1T anti-fuse memory bit cell.  This is one of the three patents asserted against Sidense in the US Federal District Court case.  The USPTO initially rejected all claims on the other two patents (No. 6,856,540 and No. 6,777,757), pending Kilopass rebuttal, which will occur during the coming months.  With the USPTO’s pronouncement on the ‘751 patent, Sidense can no longer use “patent invalidity” as a possible defense.

“The USPTO ruling reinforces our assertion that Sidense infringes Kilopass’ fundamental ownership of the 1T anti-fuse technology and simplifies Kilopass’ case against Sidense,” says Lee Cleveland, vice president of engineering at Kilopass. “As for the two other patents, we are confident our follow-up response will result in all claims being reinstated.”

The timeliness of the USPTO decision is critical to accelerate Kilopass’ patent lawsuit against Sidense by removing another delaying tactic.  In the fall of 2010, Sidense requested a stay of the case pending USPTO ruling, its fourth attempted delay.  Now with the ruling, Kilopass looks forward to the actual proceeding of the litigation and the eventual enforcement of its IP rights.

About Kilopass

Kilopass Technology, Inc., a leading supplier of embedded NVM intellectual property, leverages standard logic CMOS processes to deliver one-time programmable (OTP) memory. With 57 patents granted or pending and more than 800,000 wafers shipped from a dozen foundries and Integrated Device Manufacturers (IDM), Kilopass has more than 90 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, please visit www.kilopass.com or email info@kilopass.com.