Power Integrations Reports Appeals Decision in Patent Litigation with Fairchild Semiconductor

Court affirms finding of infringement against Fairchild, noting that Fairchild “fostered a corporate culture of copying”

SAN JOSE, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Power Integrations (Nasdaq: POWI) today announced a decision from a federal appeals court regarding the company’s 2004 patent-infringement lawsuit against Fairchild Semiconductor. In 2006, Fairchild was found to infringe several Power Integrations patents, resulting in a permanent injunction against more than 100 infringing Fairchild products. The U.S. Court of Appeals yesterday affirmed Fairchild’s infringement of Power Integrations‘ intellectual property rights, supporting the basis for the permanent injunction. The appeals court also identified certain aspects of the case for reconsideration by the district court, including issues surrounding financial damages.

The decision follows a series of rulings favoring Power Integrations in its dispute with Fairchild. In 2012, a jury found that Fairchild infringed two of the same patents previously found to be infringed in the 2004 case, implicating 75 additional Fairchild products. Power Integrations is seeking damages and an injunction against those infringing products as well. In 2006, the International Trade Commission (ITC) found that System General (SG), later acquired by Fairchild, infringed two Power Integrations patents and issued an exclusion order barring SG‘s importation of the infringing products into the U.S. market. In December 2012, in a case brought by Fairchild against Power Integrations, a Chinese court ruled that Power Integrations did not infringe any of the patents asserted by Fairchild.

Commented Balu Balakrishnan, president and CEO of Power Integrations: “We are pleased that the Court has confirmed Fairchild’s infringement, supporting the basis for the permanent injunction. We intend to continue seeking financial compensation for the harm done to us over the past decade by Fairchild’s blatant disregard of our intellectual property rights, which flows from what the appeals court described as Fairchild’s ‘corporate culture of copying.'”

About Power Integrations

Power Integrations, Inc., is a Silicon Valley-based supplier of high-performance electronic components used in high-voltage power-conversion systems. The company’s integrated circuits and diodes enable compact, energy-efficient AC-DC power supplies for a vast range of electronic products including mobile devices, TVs, PCs, appliances, smart utility meters and LED lights. CONCEPT IGBT drivers enhance the efficiency, reliability and cost of high-power applications such as industrial motor drives, …read more
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