Key Information in Litigation against Semiconductor Industry Uncovered by Article...

Key Information in Litigation against Semiconductor Industry Uncovered by
Article One Partners Community

Patent Study Results: Rambus has Valid Claims; LSI's Patent in the ITC is
Invalid; and LSI Faces Valid Patents Asserted by National Semiconductors

NEW YORK, March 11 /PRNewswire/ -- Article One Partners, LLC today announced
the conclusion of several high profile semiconductor industry Patent Studies.
A key Study concludes that a broad and important patent asserted by LSI is
invalid. Two equally important and far-ranging Studies conclude in favor of
key patents held by Rambus Inc. and by National Semiconductor Corporation.

Article One Partners, joined by an independent law firm, provides prior art
evidence of invalidity related to far reaching patent assertion by LSI
Corporation. LSI's patent assertion is industry wide - in the U.S.
International Trade Commission, it has sought to block importation by 20
defendants, including National Semiconductor Corporation (NSM). LSI describes
its patent as "widely licensed" and covering "a wide array of products" such
as cell phones, DRAM, SDRAM, computers, digital cameras etc.

Conversely, the validity of several patents asserted by Rambus in long running
litigation have now been strengthened by the extensive number of Article One
Partners Advisors who have vetted the Rambus patents. In a third Patent Study,
the Article One community researched a patent litigation against LSI (and
Agere Systems, Inc.) brought by NSM response to LSI's ITC complaint. NSM
presented that its patents cover LSI's Hard Disk Drive (HDD) Read channels and
Storage Interface Products (SAS), among others. Based on its analysis of the
prior art evidence obtained, Article One concludes that these patents owned by
NSM are valid.

Article One announces the following opinions:

-- STUDY RESULTS: VALID. Rambus Inc. has claimed patent infringement of
semiconductor memory devices against Samsung, Hynix, Nanya and Micron
involving DDR2, SDRAM and SRAM products. While Article One Advisors
from
the U.S. to France found highly-relevant new prior art to some of the
claims, they do not invalidate the portfolio. Therefore, in the
opinion
of Article One, the patent portfolio has valid claims, strengthened by
global peer review of patent validity. Multiple strengthened claims
have
not been invalidated in reexamination. (Patent Study focused upon 12
claims from 10 U.S. patents, detailed at www.articleonepartners.com).
-- Defendants & Companies Impacted - Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.;
Hynix Semiconductor Inc.; Micron Technology, Inc.; Nanya
Technology
Corporation.

-- STUDY RESULTS: INVALID. LSI Corporation claimed patent infringement
by
National Semiconductor and 19 other current defendants related to the
use of tungsten metal in semiconductor chips at the U.S. International
Trade Commission. In the opinion of Article One, as verified by an
independent law firm, Article One's Advisors uncovered new prior
art evidence that invalidates LSI's patent (U.S. Patent No.
5,227,335). The evidence, a 1982 conference paper and a U.S. patent,
results in a $50,000 reward paid to winning Advisors. The 1982
conference paper was submitted by two different Advisors, with the
first
submitter being the winning Advisor.
-- Defendants & Companies Impacted - National Semiconductor
Corporation; United Microelectronics Corporation; Integrated
Device
Technology, Inc.; Cypress Semiconductor Corporation; Magnachip
Semiconductor; Microchip Technology Inc.; Nanya Technology
Corporation; Spansion, Inc.; STMicroelectronics NV; and others.

-- STUDY RESULTS: VALID. National Semiconductor Corporation asserted
patent infringement litigation against LSI and Agere Systems related
to
four U.S. patents (details on Article One website). NSM in the
complaint
identified examples of LSI products potentially covered by the patents
as the Brasica products, Digital Signal Processors, HDD Reach
Channels,
Storage Interface Products, USB and fire wall products. Based on the
response of the Article One community, Article One opines that the
validity of the patents is strengthened. Where the court upholds the
validity of the NSM patents, then one defense that LSI can assert,
that
the patents are invalid, is eliminated. LSI then has to rely on
non-infringement.
-- Defendants & Companies Impacted - LSI Corporation, Agere
Systems, Inc. and Best Buy Co Inc.

"Innovation in the semiconductor industry has been held up by litigation
surrounding the Rambus, LSI and National Semiconductor cases, with dozens of
companies waiting for judgment to fall in these court cases," said Cheryl
Milone, founder of Article One Partners. "Citizen's review of these key
patents in the semiconductor industry has strengthened what we've found to be
true innovation, while helping to invalidate an overly-broad patent that
should not have been granted regarding the use of tungsten in semiconductor
chips."

Importantly, only a U.S. federal court or the U.S. Patent Office can
invalidate a U.S. patent. Article One is announcing only its own opinion based
on its analysis of the prior art for purposes of determining winners to its
Patent Studies. A court or the Patent Office may disagree with Article One's
opinion. The prior art is listed in the announcement of the winning Patent
Study and may be viewed on Article One's website.

License Access to Rambus or LSI Study Collections of Relevant Prior Art
There were highly relevant prior art references submitted in these studies.
Parties interested in licensing access to the collection of relevant prior art
should contact Article One directly.

About Article One Partners
Article One Partners is a global online community working to legitimize the
validity of patents. By tapping the unique knowledge and referral networks of
our Advisors, undisclosed evidence of patent validity known as prior art can
be discovered. Advisors can earn up to $50,000 for submitting invalidating
prior art, as well as premium compensation in a Profit Sharing Plan for active
participants. The result is a highly-rewarded community providing a second,
citizen's review of U.S. patents. To learn more or become a member of our
community, please visit www.ArticleOnePartners.com .

Article One Partners and AOP are service marks of Article One Partners, LLC.
All other product and company names are the trademarks and property of their
respective owners.
(C) 2009. Article One Partners, LLC. All rights reserved.

SOURCE Article One Partners, LLC

Mike Schultz of Message Infusion, LLC, +1-978-496-1012,
AOP@MessageInfusion.com, for Article One Partners, LLC