Recently, U.S.-based Netlist announced a strategic alliance with South Korea's Samsung Electronics regarding memory technologies, signing a five-year cooperation agreement that resolves all pending litigation between the parties concerning memory chip patents. The transaction could generate up to US$897 million in pre-tax patent licensing revenue for Netlist, surpassing the US$700 million patent licensing agreement Samsung reached with Rambus, another U.S. memory patent holder, in 2010, making it the largest patent licensing deal in the memory industry in recent years.
According to materials disclosed by Netlist to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, in addition to the core patent cross-license, the cooperation agreement encompasses product supply, ITC cooperation, and share purchase. Under the patent cross-license agreement, Samsung will pay Netlist an upfront licensing fee of US$239 million, followed by quarterly licensing fees of no more than US$32.9 million per quarter over the subsequent five years (through 2031), totaling up to US$897 million. Samsung thereby obtains the right to use Netlist's patent portfolio, covering key technology areas such as server memory modules (DIMMs) and high-bandwidth memory (HBM). Pursuant to the supply agreement, Netlist may purchase DRAM and NAND flash products from Samsung over the five-year period up to an aggregate cap of US$1.5 billion (maximum US$300 million per year). As an ancillary arrangement to the supply agreement, Samsung will subscribe for 10 million ordinary shares of Netlist for US$1 million, subject to a five-year lock-up period. In addition, Samsung has committed to providing necessary information and other support for ITC cases filed by Netlist against third parties during the five-year term.
It is understood that Netlist and Samsung previously entered into a joint development and licensing agreement in November 2015. In July 2020, Netlist terminated that agreement on the grounds that Samsung had failed to perform its contractual obligations, and subsequently filed multiple patent infringement lawsuits against Samsung, obtaining several favorable rulings in U.S. district courts—including damages awards of US$303 million in a 2023 case and US$118 million in a 2024 case—though the relevant judgments have long been subject to appellate proceedings and patent validity reviews. In addition, Netlist filed requests with the ITC for Section 337 investigations against Samsung in September 2025 and June 2026, respectively. With the implementation of this five-year strategic cooperation, the parties' patent disputes have finally reached a settlement.
Netlist was founded in 2000 and is headquartered in Irvine, California, USA. The company holds a substantial patent portfolio, including many pioneering patents in areas such as hybrid memory, storage-class memory, rank multiplication, and load reduction.
Samsung Electronics was founded in 1969 and is headquartered in Suwon, South Korea. The company's products and services primarily include smartphones, tablets, smartwatches, televisions, refrigerators, monitors, memory products, accessories, and more.
