Fujitsu files to block Nanya DRAM from Japan

A day after winning a patent infringement lawsuit against a Taiwanese memory chip maker Japan's Fujitsu Ltd. has filed to have the chips in question barred from Japan.

The Tokyo District Court Thursday upheld Fujitsu claims that DRAM (dynamic RAM) memory chips made by Nanya Technology Corp. infringed upon patents held by Fujitsu. The court granted an injunction against future import and sales of the chips.

Fujitsu said Friday it had filed an application with Japan's customs authority to suspend import of the DRAM chips under the country's customs law.

The lawsuit concerned a patent related to a technology for improving the speed of DDR SDRAM (double data rate synchronous dynamic RAM) memory chips and was filed just over two years ago after talks between the two companies produced no agreement on patent licensing.

"We've been in IP discussions [with Fujitsu] for a while. It's regretful that we have not reached an agreement yet," said Pai Pei-lin, vice president of sales at Nanya Technology Corp.

The case with Fujitsu probably won't have much impact on Nanya in the near term, he said, because it's been going on for a while and the company has already made contingency plans.

Nanya will most likely appeal the decision, but company lawyers will have to take a close look at the ruling before making such a decision, he said.

Nanya is fighting a similar case with Fujitsu in the U.S., but the proceedings there look more favorable for Nanya than the Japan ruling, he added.