Infineon to Appeal Trial Court Decision in Patent Litigation against Volterra

May 25, 2011 | Business & Financial Press

Neubiberg, Germany – May 25, 2011 – In 2010, a United States district court issued a claim construction that interpreted claims of patents owned by Volterra Semiconductor in such way that Infineon Technologies AG (FSE: IFX / OTCQX: IFNNY) finds too broad and beyond the scope of what the patents intended to cover. The case was filed in 2008 in the Northern District of California, alleging infringement by certain voltage regulators sold by Primarion, a company based in Los Angeles, USA, acquired by Infineon that same year. The court also recently decided various questions with respect to the validity of the asserted patents that Infineon considers factual questions. Infineon believes that this constitutes legal error.


Today, a jury found exiguous issues remaining in the first instance against Infineon as expected. However, Infineon has been working diligently toward appealing the ruling ever since the trial court’s overbroad interpretation of the patents’ scope last year. The appeal will be to the United States Court of Appeals of the Federal Circuit, a specialized appellate court for patent matters situated in Washington, D.C., USA. Infineon expects legal errors that occurred in the first instance to be reversed with the effect of denying liability outright or after remand.


Volterra’s lawsuit pertains to discontinued products. Primarion sold a limited number of the accused voltage regulators in 2008 and 2009. Neither Infineon nor Primarion market or sell these products today.


Also currently pending is a lawsuit against Volterra for infringement of patents owned by Infineon in United States district court in the District of Delaware.

About Infineon

Infineon Technologies AG, Neubiberg, Germany, offers semiconductor and system solutions addressing three central challenges to modern society: energy efficiency, mobility, and security. In the 2010 fiscal year (ending September 30), the company reported sales of Euro 3.295 billion with approximately 26,650 1 employees worldwide. Infineon is listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (ticker symbol: IFX) and in the USA on the over-the-counter market OTCQX International Premier (ticker symbol: IFNNY).

1Mentioned number of employees contains about 3,500 employees of the Wireless mobile phone business (Wireless Solutions), which was sold to Intel Corporation.

Information Number

INFXX201105.049