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Silicon Image Sues Analogix Semiconductor for Copyright Infringement and Misappropriation of Trade Secrets
SUNNYVALE, Calif., Jan. 31, 2007 – Silicon Image, Inc. (Nasdaq: SIMG), a leader in semiconductors for the secure storage, distribution and presentation of high-definition content, today announced that it has filed a lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California against Analogix Semiconductor, Inc., a Delaware corporation based in Santa Clara, California. The complaint charges Analogix with copyright infringement, misappropriation of trade secrets, and unlawful, unfair and fraudulent business practices. In the lawsuit, Silicon Image alleges that Analogix—without authorization and in violation of Silicon Image’s intellectual property rights—copied and used Silicon Image’s proprietary register maps and semiconductor configuration software. The complaint alleges that Analogix gained unlawful access to Silicon Image’s confidential and proprietary register maps—access that Silicon Image never provided to Analogix. In addition to seeking significant monetary damages in an amount to be determined at trial, Silicon Image seeks an injunction barring Analogix from its ongoing infringement of Silicon Image’s intellectual property rights. Semiconductor layout designs involve strategic placement of various electronic components, including small memory cells called registers, on interconnected layers of a chip. Silicon Image’s layout designs, including its register maps that identify locations of registers within its chip designs, are its guarded trade secrets. Documentation describing its designs is not publicly disclosed and is provided to Silicon Image’s customers or business partners only under strict non-disclosure agreements. Silicon Image alleges that Analogix copied and used Silicon Image’s register maps by gaining unauthorized access to Silicon Image’s proprietary and confidential information. Along with its chips, Silicon Image has developed, at substantial expense, its semiconductor configuration software. Silicon Image provides the software to its customers who use it to configure Silicon Image chips incorporated in their consumer products. Under its software license agreements, Silicon Image’s semiconductor configuration software can only be used with Silicon Image chips and no other products. Such a restriction is common in the industry. The complaint charges Analogix with illegally copying and modifying Silicon Image’s semiconductor configuration software and knowingly encouraging its existing and prospective customers to modify and use Silicon Image’s semiconductor configuration software with Analogix’s chips, a use that is beyond the scope, and in violation of, the rights granted under Silicon Image’s software license agreements. “We cannot tolerate unlawful practices directed at misappropriating our proprietary technology,” said Edward Lopez, Silicon Image’s chief legal officer. “In those cases, we will aggressively enforce our intellectual property rights.” About Silicon Image, Inc.
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