Chinese Chip Maker Sues Micron

Reuters reports that Yangtze Memory Technologies Co, a Chinese chipmaker, is suing Idaho-based Micron, alleging infringement of eight of its patents. The suit was filed on Nov. 9, in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

YMTC claims Micron used its technology to gain and protect market share. In a statement to Reuters, YMTC said it was confident there would be a swift resolution to the case. Micron declined to comment.

Micron competes in the chip market with Samsung and Japan’s Kioxia, a unit of Toshiba. YMTC, a much smaller company, was barred from buying certain U.S. components in 2022.

China’s methods for excluding foreign companies from its supply chains are secretive in some respects, and in others consist of pestering them and miring them in bureaucracy. It rarely tells a firm that it is no longer welcome, but that is apparently what has happened to Micron.

Around the same time the suit was filed the Chinese government barred companies that handle critical information from buying microchips made by Micron, calling them a “relatively serious cybersecurity problem.”

According to Reuters, the swiftness and public nature of the action against Micron underscore how far apart the two sides are drifting on tech policy.

The U.S. has imposed restrictions on the export of chipmaking technology to China, citing security. In 2022 the Biden administration blocked access to tools needed to make advanced chips and access to chips that run supercomputers and create powerful AI algorithms.

Last May China announced that Micron products had failed a security review and barred their purchase by operators of key Chinese infrastructure.