Patent Case Results In Favorable Jury Verdict For Linear Technology

WASHINGTON, D.C. (July 1, 2008) — Today, a unanimous jury in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware awarded total victory to McDermott client Linear Technology on its claim against Monolithic Power Systems for infringement of two energy saving voltage regulator patents that have seen wide industry acceptance. The jury found that Monolithic infringed all nine asserted claims of Linear's U.S. patents 5, 481,178 and 6,580,258, and also found that none of those claims are invalid. Linear sued Monolithic immediately after release of the accused Monolithic regulator product and Monolithic stopped selling while the case moved forward. In view of Monolithic's self-imposed 'preliminary injunction', its sales were minimal after commencement of the suit, so nominal damages were stipulated.

Monolithic's accused MP1543 product in this case was a follow-on product released not long after Linear's prior ITC complaint against an earlier Monolithic product was resolved by a Consent Order against Monolithic. In settling the prior ITC case, Monolithic also agreed to additional contractual undertakings regarding future products. Linear separately claimed that in addition to being a patent infringement, that post settlement product was a breach of the settlement. The breach of contract claim was denied by the judge and never reached the jury.

Linear Corporate and IP Attorney John England said, "We are gratified that the jury has recognized the validity of Linear's energy saving voltage regulator patents and has also found that Monolithic's second unjustified attempt to enter this field based on Linear's technology violates the Patent Laws. We respectfully disagree with the judge's determination that it does not also violate our previous settlement agreement and we plan to appeal that ruling. Linear continues to have a significant commitment to funding research and...

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