Patent Troll Goes After Intel, IBM, TI, Micron, Samsung

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None of the semiconductors companies use the exact same process on CMP. There is so much variation to the processes that there is no way that someone can say "this particular process is mine"
 
Watchout, IBM bites back. They have a patent on patent trolling. However, this looks like a legit use of the patent system. They are not seeking damages or a lawsuit, they want an investigation to see if these companies are violating their patent on a certain exact process on CMP. Their patent is very clear.
 
[citation][nom]egilbe[/nom]None of the semiconductors companies use the exact same process on CMP. There is so much variation to the processes that there is no way that someone can say "this particular process is mine"[/citation]

I would think that given the large number of various processes for this, that someone (or in this case, some company) patenting one of them that they created should be fine. It's not like they patents the idea of a CPU or even the idea of CMP. Semcon only patented one particular method.

I think that it's fairly safe to assume that if these companies are in fact infringing on this patent, that if Semcon either asks for a reasonable licensing royalty (not Motorola's $4B per year crap that they're yelling on about for h.264 or whatever it was) or a one time fee and requires the companies to switch to a different method (within a reasonable time frame for such an endeavor), then it's a perfect example of exactly how the patent system SHOULD be used. What remains to be seen is first the legitimacy of this infringement claim. If it is infringing, then what remains to be seen is how Semcon and the companies will go from there.
 
[citation][nom]falchard[/nom]Their patent is very clear.[/citation]

Obviously you didn't read it. It's 30 single spaced pages talking about using lube to get a better polish job.
 
[citation][nom]Addius[/nom]It does sound more like Semcon tech is a subsidiary company of Semcon AB, a multinational manufacturing industry technology company, hardly a patent troll as such.[/citation]

Hardly, "HQ" in Texas is equal to being a troll.
 
This patent isn't innovative in the least. Anyone in the business already does everything described here as basic planarization 101. You may as well issue a patent for diffusing a nitride layer or using light to expose a pattern. This is beyond stupid.
 
[citation][nom]blazorthon[/nom]I understood that it was a joke. I just didn't think that it was a good one.[/citation]

Last time I checked, sarcasm and a joke were two separate things.
 


this
 
Industry constantly rips-off inventors, the bigger the corporation the bigger the thief, I say we need more law suits against the giants like Microsoft, whose latest infringements included Java (silverlight) and Linux (Windows 7) not to mention constant copies of the looks of Mac OS.
 
"Troll" = truth sayer we all want to bury because we don't like or want to hear the truth.
You try to be the little guy having to fight the giants, tell me what you end up with.
 
[citation][nom]richard694000[/nom]I want to start a company making truck rims. Anyone know who owns the patent for the wheel?[/citation]
Prior art.
 
Post is gone...but whatever.

That patent paragraph pertains to several different processes, that I recall, in semiconductor processing. There's no way they can say it's CMP and not photolithography.
 
Thanks for such an informative article and the extensive explanation, it's been very useful. pcb design
 
wonder if these companies being sued would do the same if some company infringed upon their patents? you would have to be retarded if you didn`t think so
 
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