Texas Instruments, Hyundai Settle Dispute With $1 Billion Agreement

Texas Instruments (TI) signed a 10-year cross-license agreement with Hyundai Electronics Industries Co. Ltd., the world's second largest producer of memory chips. Based on projected Hyundai integrated circuit revenues over the term of the agreement, TI expects to receive royalty payments of more than $1 billion. The May 23 cross-license agreement follows a jury trial in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas that was concluded in March in TI's favor. In that trial, the jury found that TI's patents were valid and that Hyundai willfully infringed them. TI had been working to negotiate a cross-license agreement with Hyundai since 1997, when a previous agreement between the companies expired. After negotiations failed, TI filed patent infringement cases against Hyundai in May 1998 in the United States, Great Britain, France, Germany, the Netherlands, and Japan. With the new agreement, all remaining litigation between TI and Hyundai is settled. The agreement is retroactive to November 1997 and will expire at the end of 2007.