美光再度向美国指控长江存储

Core Viewpoint - The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has officially revoked its previous decision to allow multiple reviews of two key patents held by Micron Technology, dismissing the invalidation requests initiated by Yangtze Memory Technologies Co. (YMTC) [1] Group 1: Patent Invalidation Decision - The USPTO terminated the invalidation requests for Micron's patents (US 8,945,996 B2 and US 10,872,903 B2) initiated by YMTC, citing YMTC's failure to fulfill legal obligations [1] - The patents in question pertain to critical manufacturing processes for flash memory, and their invalidation could have weakened Micron's position in ongoing litigation with YMTC [1] Group 2: Background and Context - USPTO Director John T. Squires previously questioned why the USPTO would entertain YMTC's patent challenges given that YMTC is on the U.S. Department of Commerce's Entity List, suggesting potential conflicts with U.S. foreign policy interests [3] - Micron has accused YMTC's parent company of being state-controlled and highlighted that YMTC's listing on the Entity List violates U.S. export controls [4] - YMTC responded by asserting that the USPTO should not allow Micron to use the Entity List to distract from the substantive issues of the IPR process [4] Group 3: Legal Proceedings and Implications - The USPTO's ruling indicates that YMTC failed to provide sufficient evidence to counter Micron's claims and did not clearly define its ownership and control relationships, leading to the dismissal of its application [4] - Due to legal time-bar restrictions, YMTC cannot resubmit materials to restart the patent invalidation challenge [4] - Since 2024, Micron and YMTC have engaged in at least five lawsuits in various U.S. states and have challenged each other's patent validity at least 31 times before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) [5]