Macom sues Infineon over GaN rights
In its suit, filed in the United States District Court for the Central District of California in Los Angeles, MACOM alleges that Infineon has attempted to interfere with and usurp MACOM’s rights under certain agreements between Nitronex and International Rectifier.
“Nitronex and IR, and later, MACOM and IR, successfully collaborated for many years. Problems developed only after Infineon acquired IR and began to try to ‘renegotiate’ the Nitronex-IR agreements to reduce MACOM’s rights,” exains John Croteau, President and Chief Executive Officer of MACOM.
“When MACOM declined to accede to Infineon’s demands, Infineon concocted claims to interfere with our rights under the agreements”, the CEO says “Infineon’s behavior is clear validation that MACOM’s GaN technology – the product of 15 years and over $100 million in investment – is at the tipping point of market adoption, threatening large incumbents like Infineon. We believe this has caused Infineon to engage in strong-arm tactics designed to retard, rather than accelerate, innovation,” said Croteau.
“We submit that such business practices are unethical and anti-competitive and will strenuously oppose them as a matter of course,” added Croteau.
MACOM’s suit against Infineon includes claims for breach of contract, breach of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing, declaratory judgment of contractual rights, and intentional interference with contract. Among other relief, MACOM is asking the court to grant MACOM declaratory and injunctive relief confirming its rights under the Nitronex-IR agreements and ordering Infineon to assign to MACOM several Nitronex GaN patents.
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GaN-on-Silicon wafer supply deal pushes to mainstream
Infineon closes technology gap through International Rectifier takeover
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