Chipworks

Chipworks Case Studies

For over 15 years Chipworks has consistently helped senior IP Executives and their outside Legal Counsel achieve success in patent licensing and litigation. Our clients hire us to craft their strategies and find case-winning evidence of patent infringement in negotiations and litigations where the stakes are in the hundreds of millions of dollars.

Giant obtains valuable second opinion prior to purchasing patents, strengthens licensing position

Already in multi-million dollar negotiations with a major competitor, a semiconductor giant was considering acquiring new patents to strengthen its licensing position. The company had identified a group of patents for potential purchase, but did not have the internal resources to evaluate the patents’ strength against the competitor’s products. Wanting more comfort before investing, the company turned to Chipworks to confirm that the patents would strengthen its negotiating position.

Law firm helps electronics company win multi-million license against competitor

An electronics company suspected a large competitor of infringing upon its patents in various consumer electronics products. Supported by its law firm, the company approached the competitor seeking a license deal but was quickly dismissed as having no evidence of infringement. Knowing its client needed a stronger case, the law firm contacted Chipworks.

Law firm helps global computing giant reach a settlement and reduce its royalties

One of the world’s computing giants with revenue exposure in the billions of dollars, was served notice of patent infringement by a smaller player. Consulting with its law firm, it agreed to make offense part of its defense, that is, find patent infringement by the smaller player. Knowing that credible third party evidence and fact witnesses would be critical to its case, the law firm hired Chipworks, who had helped it win cases before.

Semiconductor company takes program approach and cuts licensing fees by $80 million

A multi-billion dollar semiconductor business, holding an IP portfolio of limited value, had signed a 10 year cross-license agreement with a much larger aggressor company. As its sales grew, so did its royalty payments to the aggressor – topping more than $15 million annually. With the license up for renewal, and more than $100 million at risk, the Board of Directors gave the IP team a directive to drastically reduce its royalty payments.

Small company turns defense into offense and nets $100 million plus

A small semiconductor company, under fire from one of the world's leading advanced semiconductor providers, faced excessive patent licensing fee demands that could have put it out of business. Facing an aggressive adversary with a massive patent portfolio, the company knew that prior art research and invalidity claims would never eliminate the threat; it needed a cross license at a price that wouldn’t kill the business. The company had very few valuable patents of its own until the acquisition of a small design company unexpectedly gave it half-interest in a high value patent portfolio.

Global semiconductor company turns the tables on an aggressor

A global leader in integrated silicon solutions enjoyed close to one billion dollars in annual revenue. Unexpectedly, it was served notice by a semiconductor giant, claiming infringement of 10 patents, backed up with Claim Charts. With millions of dollars in royalty payments at stake, and negotiating deadlines imminent, the market leader realized it needed strong technical documentation to counter the claims.

Conglomerate converts negative cash flow to multi-million dollar gain

A multi-billion dollar conglomerate diversified into the semiconductor business in an attempt to capitalize early on the high tech boom. Ultimately realizing that semiconductors were not its core competency, the conglomerate sold its business line, but retained a portfolio of 60 patents. These “orphan” patents were perceived to be of no continuing value to the conglomerate. With no license income, and maintenance fees topping $100,000 annually, the patent portfolio was a nonproductive asset that steadily drained cash. Under pressure to extract value from the patents and eliminate the maintenance fees, the company’s legal and finance teams recognized they needed expert guidance.

To learn how your team can deliver these results speak with one of our representatives, contact insidepatents@chipworks.com

Did You Know?

Chipworks has the largest library of semiconductor parts and documentation worldwide? Our Prior Art Library is filled with data books and manuals dating back to the 1960's.