Adeia initiates Patent Infringement litigation against AMD
Adeia takes AMD to court over alleged patent violations
The technology licensing company Adeia has filed two patent infringement lawsuits against AMD, alleging that AMD has infringed upon ten patents related to semiconductor technology. This includes seven patents covering hybrid bonding technology and three patents regarding process node technology.
Adeia Inc. is widely considered a “Non-Practising Entity” (NPE), an intellectual property (IP) licensing company that focuses on developing and licensing IP instead of creating or manufacturing products. The group was spun off from its parent company Xperi Holdings, the owner of TiVo, in an effort to separate its IP and product businesses. Adeia claims that its IP has “greatly contributed to their success as a market leader”. The company seeks a “fair and reasonable arrangement [with AMD] that reflects the value of our [their] intellectual property.”
As an NPE, Adeia has never commercialised its patents. Its business model relies on licensing their ideas, leading to some calling the business and its predecessors “patent trolls”. In the past, Adeia has been successfully able to “resolve litigation” with Nvidia in 2023 (press release here). This resolution was resolved outside of court with “confidential terms”. The company has also taken action against Twitter/X and other major companies in the past.
Adeia Inc. (Nasdaq: ADEA), the technology company known for developing foundational innovations in the semiconductor industry, announced today that it has filed patent infringement lawsuits against Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD) in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas.
“Earlier today, Adeia took legal action against AMD to protect our intellectual property rights and the investments we have made in our foundational semiconductor technologies,” said Paul E. Davis, chief executive officer of Adeia. “For years, AMD’s products have incorporated and made extensive use of Adeia’s patented semiconductor innovations, which have greatly contributed to their success as a market leader. After prolonged efforts to reach a mutually agreeable resolution without litigation, we believe this step was necessary to defend our intellectual property from AMD’s continued unauthorized use.”
In its filings today, Adeia alleges AMD infringes ten patents from Adeia’s semiconductor intellectual property (IP) portfolio – seven patents covering hybrid bonding technology and three patents covering advanced process node technology.
“We are confident that pursuing this litigation is the right course of action to protect Adeia’s inventions, as well as the interests of our shareholders and customers,” said Davis. “While we continue to be open to reaching a fair and reasonable arrangement that reflects the value of our intellectual property, we remain fully prepared to pursue resolution of this matter through the courts to safeguard our rights and firmly believe in our ability to achieve a successful outcome.”
Over the past four decades, Adeia and its predecessor companies have continuously invested in research and development, resulting in one of the world’s largest IP portfolios comprised of more than 13,000 worldwide patent assets. Today, Adeia’s IP is broadly licensed across the media and semiconductor industries.
What are AMD’s options?
Adeia’s complaints are against products like AMD’s “3D V-Cache” chips, which utilise 3D bonded silicon. Since TSMC creates the chips in question, it is unusual that Adeia’s litigation is directed exclusively at AMD, rather than TSMC, the manufacturer behind AMD’s allegedly infringing products. One also has to wonder why the company didn’t dispute these patents earlier. After all, AMD has been producing X3D gaming CPUs since 2022.
Adeia has requested unspecified damages from AMD and a court order to stop using its patented technologies. AMD now has two options. They can settle out of court or participate in a lengthy legal battle. If AMD takes the former option, Adeia will generate an income from AMD. If AMD takes the latter option, it potentially faces years of litigation. Furthermore, they could see their 3D V-Cache products (and other infringing products) taken off the market.
If AMD decides that it’s cheaper to settle with Adeia, it is likely that the company will. As mentioned before, Adeia has successfully been able to “resolve litigation” with Nvidia before. Furthermore, a prolonged legal battle could present risks to AMD that are too large to take. After all, AMD’s 3D V-Cache technology is a key differentiator between AMD and its competitors in the CPU market. A potential injunction could significantly damage AMD’s competitiveness.
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