Netlist Continues Enforcement Campaign Against Samsung DRAM Modules at ITC

This Monday, Irvine, CA-based memory technology developer Netlist filed a complaint with the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) alleging rampant infringement of its patent rights by dynamic random access memory (DRAM) devices manufactured by Samsung, including those used in Google products. The complaint is Netlist’s latest action against Samsung following a breached joint development agreement and two jury verdicts entered in U.S. district court awarding Netlist more than $420 million for Samsung’s infringing memory modules.

Section 337 Complaint Follows Jury Verdicts of Willful Infringement, Breached Agreement

Since its founding in 2000, Netlist has developed and commercialized several DRAM and NAND memory innovations, including load reduction and power management advances, that have led its distributed buffer architecture to be widely adopted as the industry’s predominant high-end server memory module. In April 2021, Netlist entered into an agreement with South Korean chipmaker SK hynix settling pending litigation between the parties and granting SK hynix a worldwide, non-exclusive license to its portfolio of memory technologies.

Netlist and Samsung entered into a joint development and license agreement (JDLA) in November 2015 with the goal of creating a standard interface for non-volatile dual in-line memory module (NVDIMM) products to facilitate broad industry adoption. However, after Samsung repeatedly failed its obligations to fulfill Netlist orders of memory products at competitive prices, Netlist terminated the JDLA in July 2020. Netlist also filed suit against Samsung in the Central District of California leading to a jury verdict entered this March finding that Samsung materially breached the JDLA.

In the Eastern District of Texas, Netlist filed a pair of patent infringement lawsuits against Samsung leading to jury findings of infringement in both cases. In April 2023, Netlist was awarded $303.15 million in damages for Samsung’s infringement of five patents, and in November 2024, a second verdict handed Netlist $118 million for three infringed patents. Netlist has also filed patent infringement suits in Northern California district court against Google, a former customer of Netlist’s that began purchasing Samsung modules after sourcing Netlist module designs customized for Google from other manufacturers.

Netlist’s USITC complaint alleges violations of 19 U.S.C. § 1337 (Section 337) committed by Samsung, Google and Super Micro, which also sells server and storage systems incorporating Samsung memory modules, through infringement of six patents:

• U.S. Patent No. 10025731 and U.S. Patent No. 12373366, related to power-management and signal-correction features in Samsung’s fifth-generation DIMM products enabling increased energy efficiency and reliable signals at high data rates.
• U.S. Patent No. 9824035, U.S. Patent 10217523 and U.S. Patent No. 10268608, related to buffer circuits incorporated into memory modules to electrically isolate memory devices such that additional devices may be added to modules without sacrificing signal integrity or speed.
• U.S. Patent No. 12308087, which claims an arrangement of stacked dies and interconnects for memory architectures that enables high-bandwidth memory operations while mitigating load issues, maintaining optimal performance in servers handling large amounts of data.

$3.87 Billion Chip Packaging Plant in Indiana Cited for Domestic Industry Requirement

The Section 337 complaint lists a series of Samsung fifth-generation DIMMs as accused products. In addition, Netlist’s allegations also target Google’s custom-designed Tensor Processing Unit (TPU), Google Cloud Platform virtual machine services, and Super Micro’s graphics processing unit (GPU)-optimized servers, each of which incorporate high-bandwidth memory features.

Netlist identifies significant investments since 2021 spent both by itself and licensee SK hynix to satisfy the economic prong of Section 337’s domestic industry requirement. In particular, SK hynix’s $3.87 billion investment into building chip packaging facilities in West Lafayette, IN, announced in April 2024, is expected to support 1,000 jobs in high bandwidth memory production and advanced packaging when it begins operations in 2028. This construction project is being supported by up to $958 million in direct funding and loans available under the CHIPS and Science Act. For its part, Netlist has also invested tens of millions of dollars since 2021 in developing memory modules within the U.S. and bringing them to market domestically.

Relief requested by Netlist include issuance of a limited exclusion order (LEO) forbidding the entry of infringing DRAM devices and products including them into the U.S. for sale, as well as permanent cease-and-desist orders prohibiting respondents from importing or selling the accused DRAM products.

Image Source: Deposit Photos
Author: billperry
ID 18479953