MACOM has announced that the United States District Court for the Central District of California in Los Angeles has entered a preliminary injunction order that, among other things, bars Infineon Technologies from designing, developing, making, marketing, or selling Gallium Nitride on Silicon (GaN-on-Si) RF products that use intellectual property rights previously owned by Nitronex and now exclusively licensed to MACOM in certain fields, including basestations.
The order further requires Infineon to provide notice of the injunction to all its relevant affiliates, subsidiaries, employees, and customers.
The U.S. court system demands an extremely high standard of proof before it will consider issuing a preliminary injunction like this. By upholding MACOM’s exclusive IP rights and forcing Infineon to inform customers, employees and subsidiaries that it is no longer able to design, develop or market GaN-on-Si RF products that practice the Nitronex IP in MACOM’s exclusive field, the court is sending a strong message.
John Croteau, President and Chief Executive Officer of MACOM stated that they are fully committed to vigorously litigating this case to its conclusion and will stand firmly against any company resorting to strong-arm tactics to usurp the rights of pioneers and innovators who move the industry and society forward with breakthrough technologies like GaN-on-Si in basestations.
