Patent Trolls Plague Chip Vendors

Semiconductor M&As breed more chip litigation

Junko Yoshida, EETimes
3/28/2017 07:30 AM EDT

MADISON, Wis. — One of the unintended consequences of the M&A feeding frenzy in the semiconductor industry is that more chip vendors are getting targeted by patent trolls.

Jean-Christoph Eloy, president and CEO of Yole Développement (Lyon, France), told EE Times that the semiconductor market embodies “all the ingredients” that make it attractive to patent licensing companies (PLC).

A PLC, also sometimes called a non-practicing entity (NPE) or more pejoratively “Patent troll,” neither makes nor markets products. It derives its income from licensing patents to or litigating against operating companies suspected of infringing patent rights, Eloy explained.

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