Renesas seeks Nanya DRAM ban

Renesas has asked the Tokyo court to ban rival DRAM maker Nanya from importing memory chip into Japan and from promoting products there.

The request follows its claims that Taiwan's Nanya infringed a variety of its memory chip patents, the Japanese memory company said yesterday,

Renesas began legal action against Nanya in the US District Court for Northern California in December 2003, and in the Tokyo District Court in February 2004. Both cases are still pending. The former alleges infringement of seven Renesas-held patents, the latter of two patents. Both cases seek damages and a permanent injunction against the allegedly offending Nanya parts. Only the US case seeks a preliminary injunction against Nanya imports.

As such, Renesas can hardly complain that Nanya has continued to import the disputed products into Japan in the meantime. But that's what it's saying: "After those lawsuits were filed, Nanya Japan continued to wilfully import into Japan and to market and sell in Japan memory products covered by Renesas' patents without a license from Renesas Technology. Thus, Renesas Technology filed for the preliminary injunction to obtain legal relief sooner." ®

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