AI proxy war begins with $480 million infringement lawsuit against Micron Technology

Micron Technology, a US semiconductor manufacturing company, is being sued by South Korean company Mimir IP for infringing on its patents.

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Mimir IP has filed a complaint with the International Trade Commission (ITC) and the US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas. Notably, Korea Economic Daily (KED) described Mimir IP as a non-practicing entity (NPE), which translates to a patent troll - a company that solely exists to purchase patents, hold them, and then sue companies or any entity that infringes on them.

Mimir purchased approximately 1,500 patents from SK Hynix in May, which it then used to file lawsuits that involve "circuits, voltage measurement devices, and non-volatile memory devices." The lawsuit, if it concludes in Mimir IP's favor, could earn the patent troll up to $480 million, and authorities could even force defendants to sign licensing agreements with Mimir.

KED states in its report that it's commonplace for companies to sell IP to patent trolls in order to wage war against competition. For example, the three leading DRAM providers, Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron Technology, all sold patents within the last year. Samsung sold 96 patents to IKT, a patent troll associated with Samsung Display, and Micron sold approximately 400 patents to patent troll Lodestar Licensing Group, marking the first time in 11 years the company moved patents to a holding company.

It appears there is a real rivalry between each of the DRAM providers, and moving patents to non-practicing entities is a way to conduct proxy wars against competition.