Patriot Scientific, has filed lawsuits alleging that five computer makers infringed its patents by selling Pentium-based computers.

The struggling eight-employee semiconductor designer, has filed lawsuits against Japanese PC manufacturers Sony, Matsushita, Fujitsu, Toshiba and NEC, alleging they infringed Patriot's patents by selling computers containing Pentium chips that run at 120MHz or higher.

Chips running at this speed have been around since late 1995 and are in the bulk of desktop, notebooks and servers operating today. More suits against other PC makers may follow, Patriot has indicated.

Theoretically, the lawsuits could lead to millions of dollars in damages. Patriot has said that its intellectual property has been incorporated into US$150 billion worth of semiconductors. It is difficult to evaluate the validity of Patriot's claims, said Richard Belgard, a patent consultant, but if the company can show validity, it should be fairly straightforward to establish whether infringement occurred.

Intel is fighting Patriot's claims. Last week, the chipmaking giant filed an action for declaratory relief in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. Its suit seeks a ruling that Intel's intellectual property does not infringe Patriot's patents.

"After reviewing the suits against our customers, it became clear to us that Patriot was really claiming our microprocessors infringed," said Chuck Mulloy, an Intel spokesman.

Patriot, which has not sued Intel, has said it will vigorously defend itself in the declaratory relief action and file a counterclaim.

Patriot has not identified other potential defendants but has said that several electronics manufacturers are benefiting from its technology. The selection of Japanese defendants for the first round of suits may have been deliberate, noted one source, because Japanese companies have historically shown a tendency to settle early. Patriot has not commented on this matter.

The claims primarily revolve around a patent titled "High Performance Microprocessor Having Variable Speed System Clock", no. 5,809,336 in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

By: DocMemory
Copyright © 2023 CST, Inc. All Rights Reserved