June 11, 2014 - ams (Country Manager Jong-Deok Lee), a company specializing in high-performance analog ICs and sensors, announced that it won the final ruling in a patent validity lawsuit filed by Melexis, an automotive semiconductor company based in Belgium, regarding European patent EP 0 916 074 B1, which deals with magnetic field position sensor products.
In its final ruling, the German Federal Supreme Court in Karlsruhe recognized the validity of ams's proprietary patents and invalidated Melexis's claim that the fundamental technology of non-contact position sensors was unpatentable. ams had expected to win the final trial in the patent eligibility lawsuit while appealing the lower court's ruling from the Federal Patent Court in Munich.

Following the patent validity ruling against Melexis, the initial verdict in the patent infringement lawsuit against Melexis, based in Belgium, and its German subsidiary, Melexis GmbH, will be reinstated. This lawsuit concerning magnetic field position sensor products and European patent EP 0 916 074 B1 was filed by ams in the District Court of Düsseldorf, Germany. Consequently, as the patent infringement verdict remains valid, Melexis will continue to bear the risk of financial loss resulting from the patent infringement.

Bernd Gessner, Vice President and General Manager of the Automotive Business Unit at ams, said, “We are pleased with the Supreme Court’s decision recognizing the patents that ams has exclusively held for 2003. We have invested countless hours, effort, and funds to develop the technology that powers our products, and we will do our utmost to ensure that our intellectual property rights are not used or infringed upon.”
ams is a global leader in high-resolution magnetic field sensor solutions. The wide range of rotary and linear position sensors offered by ams enables robust non-contact position measurement in virtually numerous applications.