Toshiba wins a patent lawsuit against Hynix

Japan based tech giants Toshiba have won a lawsuit against South Korean rival Hynix Semiconductor over patents for flash memory modules, which are massively used in digital devices like mp3 players and mobile phones.

The Tokyo District Court ruled in favor of Toshiba saying that Hynix Semiconductor had infringed on Toshiba Corp.’s NAND flash memory related patents. This ruling also said that the products from the company violating the patents could no longer be sold in the Japanese market.

Hynix would also be required to pay Toshiba 7.8 million yen ($67,000) in damages. Hynix is the world’s second-largest memory chipmaker after Samsung Electronics and have responded by saying that they would appeal the ruling in higher courts.

Min-Ho Bang, general manager of Hynix Semiconductor said: “The company will take all possible legal measures against the court’s ruling. The court ruling is only related to one of the three violations of NAND flash memory related patents. And it’s just the beginning of the trial.”

Hynix is already suffering at the hands of the Japanese government decision, which has levied import duties of 27.2 percent on computer memory chips made by Hynix in retaliation for alleged government subsidies.