⚖ Oral Arguments, with Context

Netlist's '912 patent concerns a decoder that lets a computer designed for fewer memory ranks use more, lower-density DRAM chips. Samsung asked the Patent Trial and Appeal Board to review claim 16 through inter partes review, a trial that tests an issued patent against earlier patents and publications. Micron joined. The Board found the claim obvious over Ellsberry's earlier memory design and therefore unpatentable. Netlist appealed. Samsung has since settled, leaving Micron to defend the decision. One dispute is ‘rank’: Netlist says it must contain multiple memory devices; Micron says one is enough. The other is priority. Netlist relies on 2004 and 2005 filings that predate Ellsberry. To obtain those earlier dates, the filings must show a skilled reader that the inventors already possessed every claimed feature. The Board found insufficient disclosure of a register and bank-address signals. Netlist says the Board ignored what an engineer would understand and improperly relied on a website it found in 2024. Micron concedes that was improper but says other record evidence independently supports the result.

Netlist, Inc. v. Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (No. 24-2304) — U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, argued September 9, 2026.