Spansion Files Patent Suit Against Samsung

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Spansion (SPSN Quote) wants to block U.S. sales of iPods, BlackBerry gadgets and other devices because memory chips made by Samsung Electronics and used in those products allegedly violate Spansion patents.

Spansion, the world's No. 3 maker of flash memory chips by revenue, sued South Korea's Samsung on Monday. Spansion claims more than "100 million mp3 players, cell phones, digital cameras and other consumer electronic devices" are made with Samsung flash memory chips that violate Spansion patents.

Samsung is the world's biggest memory-chip maker. Flash memory chips are widely used in portable electronics. They're popular because they access data quickly, require little power and are rugged enough to withstand drops without losing information.

Spansion claims Samsung has sold $30 billion worth of products over the past five years that contain patented Spansion technologies.

"Spansion has patents that are fundamental to flash memory. Samsung itself has cited these patents many times in its own patent filings, underscoring industry acceptance of the fundamental nature of Spansion's (intellectual property)," Robert Melendres, Spansion's general counsel, said in a statement.

Samsung declined to comment.

Spansion filed complaints with the International Trade Commission and U.S. District Court in Delaware. The company is asking for damages and for the court to ban sales in the U.S. of products with the affected Samsung chips.

Patent-infringement lawsuits often have high stakes but ultimately have little effect on consumers because they're settled out of court.

Spansion shares rose 16 cents, or 32%, to 66 cents in after-hours trading after its lawsuits were announced.

Meanwhile, Eastman Kodak(EK Quote) said it is suing Samsung and LG Electronics for infringing various digital-camera patents it obtained between 1993 and 2001.