Cypress Agrees To Drop Ericsson From Patent Suit Against GSI

   DOW JONES NEWSWIRES 
 

Cypress Semiconductor Corp. (CY) said Monday it has filed a motion to release telecommunications equipment maker Ericsson (ERIC) from its patent-infringement complaint against GSI Technology Inc. (GSIT).

Cypress, a chip maker, in June filed a complaint with the U.S. International Trade Commission, alleging infringement of four static random-access memory, or SRAM, patents by GSI, a maker of memory for networking and telecommunications equipment. Cypress's complaint has sought to stop other electronics makers from importing the allegedly infringing GSI memory chips.

Cypress said it reached an agreement with Ericsson, making it the fifth customer Cypress has released from the case so far. Other recent agreements were reached with Arrow Electronics Inc. (ARW) and Nu Horizons Electronics Corp.

GSI has previously denied any wrongdoing in the case and said it would vigorously defend itself from the allegations. Late last year, GSI said the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office initially rejected a number of Cypress's patent infringement claims tied to the dispute.

While Cypress had been reporting improved profits in recent quarters, the semiconductor sector has shown increasing weakness, with many companies cutting their earnings projections and a handful of disk-makers struggling with flooding in Thailand.

The company in January said its fourth-quarter earnings surged compared with a year-earlier quarter challenged by a legal settlement and higher tax costs.

Cypress shares closed Monday's regular session at $15.67, while Ericsson's closed at $9.90 and GSI's closed at $4.38. None of the stocks was active after hours following Cypress's announcement.

-By Ben Fox Rubin, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-3108; [e-mail]