Defendant

Freescale Semiconductor, Inc.

1 case as defendant.

Cases
1
Active
0
1 closed
Filed
2010
Top venue
E.D. Texas Tyler
1 case

Company profile

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Freescale Semiconductor, Inc. (later Freescale Semiconductor, Ltd.; NYSE: FSL) was an American semiconductor manufacturer headquartered in Austin, Texas. It was created in July 2004 as a spin-off of Motorola's Semiconductor Products Sector. Taken private in 2006 through a $17.6 billion leveraged buyout led by Blackstone with Carlyle, Permira and TPG — then the largest technology LBO on record — it returned to the NYSE in a 2011 IPO. At its peak it reported roughly 17,000–24,000 employees across more than 25 countries, net sales of about $4.19 billion (2013) and $4.6 billion (2014), and more than 6,000 patent families. It ceased to exist as an independent company when NXP Semiconductors N.V. acquired it for ~$11.8 billion; the deal closed December 7, 2015.

Freescale designed and manufactured embedded processing and RF products. Major lines included Kinetis and Qorivva microcontrollers, i.MX applications processors, QorIQ communications processors, Xtrinsic sensors, SMARTMOS analog/mixed-signal and power-management ICs, and Airfast RF power transistors. Primary end markets were automotive (powertrain, chassis, safety, infotainment), industrial, networking/wireless infrastructure and consumer electronics.

The tracked data show one case with Freescale as defendant and none as plaintiff — the profile of an operating company being attacked rather than an active enforcer. The sole case, Azure Networks LLC et al. v. Texas Instruments Incorporated et al. (No. 6:10-cv-00681), was filed December 22, 2010 in the Eastern District of Texas, Tyler Division, before Judge Leonard Davis, a venue strongly associated with patent plaintiffs.

The plaintiffs — Azure Networks LLC and the Tri-County Excelsior Foundation — are non-practicing licensors. Stanford's NPE Litigation Database classifies the patent owner as a university/government/non-profit holder of acquired patents; the asserted U.S. Patent No. 7,020,501 ("Energy Efficient Forwarding in Ad-Hoc Wireless Networks") originated with BBN Technologies. The suit targeted RF transceivers, naming Freescale's MC1319x, MC1320x and MC1321x families alongside co-defendants Texas Instruments, Atmel, NXP, Microchip and ZMD. Freescale counterclaimed. The technology focus — low-power wireless networking — reflects the connectivity segment of Freescale's embedded portfolio.

Azure Networks LLC et al. v. Texas Instruments Incorporated et al.

disposed
Docket:
6:10-cv-00681
Filed:
2010-12-22
Patents:7020501

Patent infringement action filed by Azure Networks LLC and Tri-County Excelsior Foundation against Texas Instruments and other semiconductor companies in the Eastern District of Texas. The complaint asserted U.S. Patent No. 7,020,501. The docket shows the case fully terminated, but the specific final disposition was not confirmed.