[News] China-US Chip War Escalated as YMTC Sues Micron for Patent Infringement

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According to a previous report from Bloomberg, Chinese 3D NAND Flash giant YMTC recently filed a lawsuit against American memory giant Micron in California, accusing Micron of infringing on 11 of its patents related to 3D NAND Flash and DRAM products. YMTC is requesting the court to order Micron to stop selling the infringing memory products in the United States and to pay patent royalties.

Established at the end of 2016 in Wuhan, YMTC is a major Chinese manufacturer of memory (DRAM) and flash memory (NAND Flash), supported by significant investments from the “Big Fund.” It has become a representative enterprise in China’s effort to build a local chip supply chain. However, in October 2022, the U.S. Department of Commerce added YMTC to the Entity List, preventing it from obtaining advanced equipment from U.S. companies to manufacture 3D NAND chips with 128 layers or more.

Before facing U.S. export controls, YMTC’s 128-layer 3D NAND chip products had already entered Apple’s supply chain and received technical and quality certification from Apple. At that time, Apple reportedly hoped to use YMTC’s chips not only for cost considerations but also to prevent flash memory from being overly concentrated in the hands of Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron.

The report from Tom’s hardware states that YMTC’s current allegations assert that Micron’s 96-layer (B27A), 128-layer (B37R), 176-layer (B47R), and 232-layer (B58R) 3D NAND Flash products, as well as some DDR5 SDRAM products (Y2BM series), infringe on 11 of YMTC’s patents or patent applications filed in the United States.

Notably, last November, YMTC also filed a lawsuit against Micron and its subsidiaries in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, accusing them of infringing on eight U.S. patents related to 3D NAND Flash. Additionally, per a report from South China Morning Post on June 7th of this year, YMTC filed a lawsuit in California, accusing the Denmark-based consulting firm Strand Consult, funded by Micron, of spreading false information that damaged YMTC’s market reputation and business relationships.

Industry sources cited by the Commercial Times also note that in recent years, China’s technological capabilities have significantly improved, and companies have been actively applying for patents domestically and internationally. With the support of the Chinese government, they have also started to frequently engage in patent litigation. Last year, Chinese courts received 5,062 technical intellectual property and monopoly cases.

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(Photo credit: YMTC)