newsbytes@clarinet.com (01/18/90)
CARROLLTON, TEXAS, U.S.A., 1990 JAN 16 (NB) -- SGS-Thomson Microelectronics has filed suit in US District Court against Dallas Semiconductor for patent infringement while Dallas Semiconductor has sued SGS-Thomson in Texas State Court where SGS-Thomson has countersued. The SGS-Thomson suit seeks a permanent injunction to prohibit Dallas Semiconductor from continued infringement of its US patent rights. The suit further seeks monetary damages to recover profits lost as a result of the patent infringement. These monetary damages are being asked at triple value because SGS- Thomson alleges Dallas Semiconductor willfully committed the infringement with full knowledge of SGS-Thomson's patent rights. For the past year, SGS-Thomson claims to have been attempting to put together a licensing agreement for the battery-backed memory devices but the negotiations recently broke down. SGS-Thomson sees the Dallas Semiconductor suit files in State Court as an attempt to smokescreen the SGS-Thomson suit in US District Court. While SGS-Thomson also has the right to bring suit against other companies that continue to use or sell the battery-backed memory devices made by Dallas Semiconductor, the company has elected not to do so in the interests of not interfering with production currently in progress by industry users. SGS-Thomson says it is only interested in protecting its investment in research and development at this time. (Janet Endrijonas/19900117/Press Contact: Dave Hage, SGS-Thomson Microelectronics, 602-867-6241)