A US trade complaint is looking to bar imports of products using Samsung’s Nand flash memory chips, which are part of devices from six vendors including Apple and RIM. Privately held BTG International of Pennsylvania, claims Samsung’s chips infringe five of its patents and has filed a complaint with the US International Trade Commission in Washington DC, trying to bar imports of Samsung chips and products that use them.
The patents relate to methods of programming and reading flash memory multilevel cells (those that store more than a single bit of information per cell, a technique to reduce flash memory cost and expand capacity). The chips at issue are used by Samsung itself in cellphones, camcorders, notebooks and media players, and six other vendors are also cited. These are Apple for the iPhone, iPod and MacBook Air; RIM for BlackBerry Storm; Sony for its digital cameras, Vaio notebooks and MP3 players; plus three laptop makers, Asustek, Dell and Lenovo. Also mentioned are flash memory card makers PNY Technologies and Transcend Information.
BTG filed a patent infringement complaint against Samsung in federal court in Marshall, Texas, in December and extended this to Samsung flash memory customers earlier this month. The suits are likely to drag on for a long period of time and it remains to be seen how well BTG’s patents stand up, and whether the vendors have to come to a licensing deal. Though potentially far reaching in its impact on the market, few expect imports of the Samsung-based products to be severely impacted, with the case appearing to be part of the rising trend for patent trolls to try their luck in booming areas of wireless technology.