License and settlement agreement with Elpida relating to Qimonda's patent portfolio

MUNICH, GERMANY: Dr. Michael Jaffé, the insolvency administrator over the estate of Qimonda AG, reached a settlement and license agreement with the Japanese memory chip manufacturer Elpida Memory Inc., Tokyo.

Insolvency proceedings over the estate of Qimonda AG were opened on April 1, 2009 at the Munich District Court and Dr. Michael Jaffé was appointed insolvency administrator. Qimonda AG markets one of the largest semiconductor IP portfolios in the world including some 4,500 patent families.

The settlement and license agreement allows Elpida to use Qimonda's patents world wide. Elpida will withdraw from litigation pending in the US between Qimonda's administrator and several semiconductor and information-technology manufacturers.

This settlement is the first resolution of claims brought by licensees of Qimonda AG's patent portfolio. After a US Bankruptcy Court recognized Qimonda AG's German insolvency proceedings as a foreign main proceeding under Chapter 15 of the US Bankruptcy Code, a group of licensees, including Elpida, Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., Intel Corp., Infineon Technologies AG, Micron Technology Inc., Hynix Semiconductor Inc., IBM Corp. and Nanya Technology Corp., asserted that the US Bankruptcy Court should order that licenses shall continue with respect to Qimonda's US patents under US law, despite the insolvency administrator's election of non-performance under German law. That proceeding - from which Elpida will now withdraw as an objector - is still pending.

The terms and conditions of the license and the settlement amount are confidential.