SAN FRANCISCO — Intellectual property licensor Tessera Technologies Inc. said it initiated legal proceedings against South Korea's Samsung Electronics, alleging infringement of 24 patents covering a range of semiconductor processing, bonding and packaging technologies as well as imaging technologies.
Tessera, a wholly owned subsidiary of Xperi Corp., said it filed the complaints in multiple venues, including the U.S. International Trade Commission, three U.S. federal district courts and some international jurisdictions. Tessera maintains that Samsung infringes on the 24 patents in its semiconductors as Galaxy S6, S7, S8, and Note 8 smartphones, as well as other products.
Tessera derives its revenue from licensing its technology for semiconductor packaging and image analysis to tech firms. The company is considered "a patent troll" by some in the industry.
John Kirchner
John Kirchner, Tessera's CEO, said in a statement that Samsung has been a Tessera customer since 1997, but that its most recent license agreement expired in December 2016. "We believe it is continuing to use our patented technologies without authorization, and without paying us fair compensation," Kirchner said.
Kirchner said Tesera has been in talks with Samsung on the issues but that it felt like it had "no choice" but to initiate legal proceedings.
Samsung did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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