LONDON – STMicrolectronics NV has filed a complaint in the Northern District of California alleging that InvenSense Inc., a supplier of motion tracking components based on MEMS technology, infringes nine ST patents, InvenSense said Thursday (May 17).
InvenSense (Sunnyvale, Calif.) provided a legal update and stated that it contests ST's claims and intends to defend itself. The company said it is fully committed to its entire product portfolio, and all its products continue to be available to customers.
ST (Geneva, Switzerland) is a leading supplier of MEMS components with approximately $900 million in annual sales of MEMS components and MEM foundry services. STMicroelectronics was the leading producer of both MEMS gyroscopes and MEMS accelerometers in 2011, according to IHS-iSuppli (El Segundo, Calif.). The market research firm asserts that ST is the sole supplier of gyroscopes and accelerometers for the iPhone and iPad and Apple accounted for
half of ST's MEMS business in 2011.
Meanwhile InvenSense has also seen great success with combination sensors that combine multi-axis accelerometer and gyroscopes. InvenSense claims to have been the first company to produce a six-axis motion sensing product, with a three-axis gyroscope and three-axis accelerometer on the same die, which it did in 2011. In 2012 the company produced a 9-axis motion-sensing product including a 3-axis compass in the same package as it had used for the six-axis component in 2011.
InvenSense staged a successful
initial public offering of shares in November 2011 that raised $75 million for the company. The stock opened at $8.25 and has been as high as $22.35. The stock closed at $10.31 on Thursday (May 17).
Related links and articles:
www.invensense.com
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