Qorvo has won a patent infringement lawsuit against Akoustis Technologies, Inc. and Akoustis Inc. The jury awarded Qorvo over $31,500,000 in compensatory damages and an additional $7,000,000 in punitive damages. This verdict enables Qorvo to pursue an injunction against Akoustis products. The lawsuit, originally filed in October 2021, found that Akoustis Technologies, Inc. and Akoustis Inc. (together, "Akoustis") willfully and maliciously misappropriated Qorvo trade secrets and infringed certain Qorvo patents relating to BAW filter designs.
The federal jury in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware returned a verdict on Friday, May 17, 2024, in favor of Qorvo. Akoustis Technologies was quick to act and has made design updates to its XBAW® manufacturing process to remove any patented features claimed by Qorvo, Inc. in U.S. Patent Nos. 7,522,018 and 9,735,755. Qorvo asserted the patents against certain XBAW® RF filters in Qorvo, Inc. vs. Akoustis Technologies, Inc., No. 1:21-cv-01417-JPM (D. Del.). These updates have been incorporated into both new XBAW® RF filters and many earlier XBAW® filter designs since the Fall of 2022. Effective immediately, the Company has released these design updates to manufacturing for the remainder of its filter products that remain in production and distribution as needed to remove any potential infringement.
“While Akoustis is disappointed with the jury’s verdict, the Company prepared well in advance for all potential outcomes,” commented Dave Aichele, Executive Vice President of Business Development. “Based on our testing and qualification over the last two years, the design updates to these earlier XBAW® filters do not have any form, fit or function impact to the performance and reliability, as the Qorvo patented claims were not design features of the XBAW® process. Akoustis is well-prepared to move forward notwithstanding any injunction Qorvo may seek against the accused legacy versions of our products.”
Akoustis management does not expect the verdict will affect its ability to market its product portfolio to existing and future customers.
What Now?
Having lost a lawsuit against Qorvo in the District Court for the District of Delaware, Akoustis is required to pay $38.6 million, which the company says affects its ability to raise capital and continue operations. The company said that the lawsuit’s verdict might also lead them to consider bankruptcy protection.
The lawsuit verdict also comes on the heels of its third-quarter revenue for the fiscal year ending in 2024. As reported on May 13, the revenue was up by 7% quarter-over-quarter to $7.5 million. The growth was attributed to robust activity in the sales and design win pipelines, semiconductor services business, and new products introduced in Wi-Fi 6E/7 and 5G infrastructure. The Company had expressed revenue expectations between $7.0 to $7.5 million in sales revenue in the June quarter.
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