Bell Semiconductor, LLC (Bell Semic) has filed a complaint against Texas Instruments Incorporated (TI) claiming patent infringement. Bell Semic filed the complaint after TI failed to respond to their notice letters, sent as attempts to reach a license agreement. The suit is filed in the Texas Eastern District Court. Bell Semic is represented by Glaser Weil Fink Howard Avchen & Shapiro and Skiermont Derby.
The complaint comes after Bell Semic claimed TI was infringing on nine of their patents: U.S. Patent Numbers 8,049,340 (the Hall 340 Patent); 8,288,269 (the Hall 269 Patent); 7,566,964 (the Kang Patent); 6,281,129 (the Merchant Patent); 6,596,639 (the Easter Patent); 6,879,046 (the Gibson Patent); 6,707,132 (the Banerjee Patent): 6,544,907 (the Ma Patent); and 6,492,712 (the Chen Patent). The patents pertain to Bell Semic’s proprietary integrated circuit package substrates.
In the complaint, Bell Semic argues, “TI actively and knowingly aids and abets infringement through the use, importation, sale, and/or offers for sale by its customers and downstream distributors and through the use by end-users of the products incorporating the…Accused Products in the United States.” Bell Semic claims that the allegedly infringing devices include TI’s DRV2624 haptic motor driver for the Google Pixel 2, and TI’s TPS65912 power management device used in the Magic Leap 1 headset.
Bell Semic is a Delaware technology and intellectual property licensing company whose patent portfolio encompasses over 1,900 worldwide patents and applications. The company’s intellectual property predecessor, Bell Labs, is credited with developing the transistor and the solar cell.
As a result of TI’s alleged acts of infringement and failure to reach a license agreement, Bell Semic seeks an award for damages, as well as a possible compulsory ongoing licensing fee.
