A U.S. Federal Court in Oregon issued an injunction prohibiting electronic design automation (EDA) and intellectual property (IP) vendor Synopsys Inc. from making or selling in the U.S. emulation tools or software containing technology found to infringe upon a patent held by Mentor Graphics Corp.
The court also confirmed a prior ruling that Synopsys must pay Mentor more than $36 million for lost profits resulting from past infringement, according to a statement issued by Mentor (Wilsonville, Ore.).
A spokesperson for Synopsys (Mountain View, Calif.), said the company would immediately request a stay of certain aspects of the injunction and will appeal the injunction and the jury's infringement finding. The company issued a statement saying it would continue to sell, ship and support its ZeBu emulation systems worldwide.
Manoj Gandhi, general manager and senior vice president of the verification group at Synopsys, said the company has made substantial investments in ZeBu technology and software over the past two years.
For years, Mentor traded suits across multiple geographies with EVE, a French company founded in 2000 to commercialize ZeBu emulation technology. Synopsys acquired EVE in 2012.
Last year, a jury awarded Mentor $36 million for lost profits resulting from a finding that the ZeBu platform violated Mentor’s patent rights.
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