Jury Awards $26 Million to San Diego Firm
A U.S. District Court jury in San Diego has recommended that Sunnyvale-based Advanced Micro Devices pay $26 million in damages to San Diego-based Brooktree for infringing on three Brooktree patents that cover computer chips used to generate color graphics on computer screens.
U.S. District Judge William Enright on Thursday prohibited AMD from making, using or selling any products that infringe on the patents. Enright also gave AMD 10 days to appeal the injunction.
Attorneys described the case as the first test of the Semiconductor Chip Protection Act of 1984, which is designed to protect technological advances in the hotly competitive computer chip industry. The same federal jury on Sept. 10 determined that AMD had violated Brooktree’s patent rights for the chips.
In a prepared statement, AMD Chairman and Chief Executive W. J. Sanders III said AMD would comply with the order, pending an appeal. “We are aghast at the implications of the verdict,” Sanders said. “If the jury verdict and damages are confirmed by the court and not overturned on appeal, a gross miscarriage of justice will have been done.”
The closely watched court case focused on patents covering microchips that are known as color palettes. They are used to control the display of colors on computer monitor screens. Industry analysts have set the fast-growing market for color palettes at about $70 million a year.
The case, which dates to November, 1988, pitted privately held Brooktree, which expects to report about $60 million in revenue during 1990, against AMD, a giant chip maker with more than $1.2 billion in annual sales.
The award covers three Brooktree patents that are used in graphics applications in engineering workstations and high-resolution personal computers, according to Brooktree spokeswoman Cathy Batchelor.
