Samsung Ordered to Pay USD 118 Million in Damages to Netlist in Patent Lawsuit

A federal jury in Marshall, Texas, has awarded computer memory company Netlist a total of USD 118 million in damages from Samsung Electronics in a patent lawsuit concerning technology that enhances data processing in high-performance memory products. This verdict follows a previous ruling in which Netlist secured USD 303 million from Samsung in a related case last year.

In another development, this week, Netlist was awarded an additional USD 445 million from chipmaker Micron in a separate lawsuit involving some of the same patents. The jury found that Samsung's infringement on these patents was willful, which may result in a judge increasing the award by up to three times.

Netlist had initiated the lawsuit against Samsung in 2022, claiming that the Korean tech giant's memory modules infringed on its patents. According to Netlist, its innovations improve the power efficiency of memory modules and enable users to extract valuable information from large data sets more quickly.

Samsung has denied the allegations, arguing that the patents are invalid and that its technology operates differently from Netlist's inventions. Additionally, Samsung has filed a related lawsuit in Delaware federal court, alleging that Netlist has failed to fulfil its obligation to provide fair licences for technology necessary to comply with international standards.

As India continues to play a significant role in the global electronics industry, the country is set to introduce substantial financial incentives of up to USD 500 crore to motivate companies to manufacture components locally for electronic devices such as mobile phones and laptops. This initiative aims to bolster the burgeoning tech industry while also reducing reliance on imports from China.

In recent years, India's electronics production has more than doubled, reaching approximately USD 11,500 crore in 2024. The growth can be attributed to major players like Apple and Samsung ramping up their mobile manufacturing operations in the country.