Samsung was sued for copyright infringement of Netlist's AI memory chip technology
Recently, California-based technology company Netlist officially sued Korean giant Samsung Electronics with the US International Trade Commission (ITC) and the Eastern District Court of Texas.
The plaintiff accused Samsung of violating two core patents related to high bandwidth memory (HBM) technology and DDR5 memory. These are all key, irreplaceable components in operating artificial intelligence (AI) systems that are booming globally.
According to the complaint, the two compromised technologies play a decisive role in the performance of hardware serving AI. The first patent, number 12,646,537, is related to the technique of stacking memory chips through silicon vents (TSV).
This technology allows to increase the processing density of the chip while still saving power consumption. The second patent, number 12,650,937, provides for a register clock driver (RCD) that helps DDR5 memory modules operate stably at high speeds.
Notably, the lawsuit at ITC not only targets Samsung but also names a series of major partners consuming this company's products including Google, Nvidia, Supermicro and Broadcom.
Directly affected devices include Nvidia's Blackwell and Rubin graphics processors, Google's TPU graphics chips, and Supermicro server systems. Netlist asked authorities to issue a ban on importing infringing devices, a decision that could cause chaos for the AI supply chain in the US.
In the past, Samsung and Netlist signed a licensing agreement in 2015, but the relationship broke down in 2020, leading to a long dispute. This is not the first time Samsung has suffered losses against this smaller competitor.
Previously, juries in Texas had fined Samsung $303 million in damages by 2023 and an additional $118 million by the end of 2024 for intentional infringement of other Netlist patents.
Netlist CEO, Mr. C.K. Hong, emphasized that the lawsuit is necessary to protect the achievements of innovation in the AI server memory segment. Currently, the memory chip manufacturing segment, especially the HBM chip line supplied to major partners like Nvidia, is the main source of revenue supporting the Korean corporation's financial results.
In response to the new legal allegations, Samsung's representative affirmed that the product is completely legal and vowed to defend itself strongly in court. Because the ITC tends to adjudicate more quickly than regular courts, preliminary rulings are likely to appear in the next few months, directly threatening the parties' commercial activities.