Fairchild Patent Infringement Case

Fairchild Semiconductor Corp. (South Portland, ME) recently announced its principal subsidiary is being sued by Siliconix Inc. (Santa Clara, CA) and IXYS Corp. (Santa Clara, CA) for alleged patent infringement.Fairchild said in its quarterly report filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission that Siliconix names Fairchild as a defendant in a lawsuit for allegedly infringing on two of its patents and is seeking unspecified damages.According to Fairchild, the company intends to contest the claims which were made in a November 2, 1999 suit filed in the US District Court for the Northern District of California.On December 22, 1999, IXYS filed a lawsuit against the Fairchild subsidiary and Fairchild Korea Semiconductor Ltd. for allegedly infringing on one of its patents and is seeking unspecified damages. Fairchild said it is investigating IXYS's claims but believes that the claims are subject to indemnification by Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. under provisions of a business transfer agreement with that company.