Netlist (OTCQB:NLST) sunk 17% on Monday after it lost a request in a patent validity probe with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office that had argued Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL) was an interested party in a patent dispute with Samsung Electronics (OTCPK:SSNLF).
Google is not a “real-party-in interest” in the matter, according to a filing from the USPTO on Friday.
The USPTO was assessing whether Samsung-supplier Google (GOOGL) was a real interested party in a dispute over claim 16 in the ‘912 patent. If it was determined that Google was a real interest party, then Samsung would have been time-barred from the proceeding, meaning that it filed its IPR too late.
Netlist (OTCQB:NLST) didn’t immediately respond to Seeking Alpha’s email request for comment after normal business hours on Sunday.
The request from Netlist (OTCQB:NLST) to look at the relationship between Google (GOOGL) and Samsung (OTCPK:SSNLF) came after the USPTO in late October said it would review claim 16 in the ‘912 patent dispute. Samsung “has shown a reasonable likelihood” that the claim will be found invalid, the board said at the time.
The patent infringement claim is related to printed circuit boards, memory modules, and double-date-rated, or DDR, memory.