Along with the end of the dispute, SK hynix said it has clinched a new patent deal with SanDisk that will run through March 2023. (image: Yonhap)
SEOUL, Aug. 5 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix said Wednesday it has agreed to end the ongoing legal battle with U.S.-based SanDisk over an alleged technology leak, and instead plans to extend their patent cooperation.
Under the agreement, the two will end the legal battle that started in March last year in the United States, when SanDisk claimed that one of its ex-researchers moved to the South Korean company and leaked confidential business information in 2008.
Along with the end of the dispute, SK hynix said it has clinched a new patent deal with SanDisk that will run through March 2023.
The agreement calls for the South Korean firm to pay an undisclosed amount of patent fees to SanDisk, and also supply dynamic random access memory (DRAM) chips to the U.S. player.
SK hynix said the agreement came as an extension of their earlier patent deal clinched in 2007.
In December 2014, SK hynix also agreed to settle a lawsuit with Japanese tech firm Toshiba and instead cooperate in developing new technologies.
Toshiba had sued the South Korean company in March of the same year through the Tokyo District Court over the alleged theft of its NAND flash memory chip technology.
“The deal has abated business uncertainties, and allowed the company to focus its efforts in developing new products,” SK hynix said. “The stable supply will also allow us to bolster our presence as one of the leading chipmakers.”
(Yonhap)
