Morrison & Foerster has one of the most active semiconductor practices of any international law firm -- with extensive experience
in all aspects of the semiconductor and semiconductor equipment industries.
Morrison attorneys have represented a wide variety of integrated circuit device and component companies, semiconductor core
and semiconductor intellectual property vendors, electronic design automation tool vendors, independent device manufacturers,
merchant fabs and foundries, manufacturing services companies, fabless design companies, packaging, assembly, and test houses,
semiconductor tooling and equipment companies, electronics manufacturing services, and OEMs and systems vendors that purchase
and integrate semiconductor products.
The firm has helped structure, negotiate, and document numerous transactions in the semiconductor area, including for the
licensing of semiconductor patents and other key intellectual property.
Some of the recent matters on which we have advised are as follows:
- Sumitomo Heavy Industries/Axcelis. We are representing Sumitomo Heavy Industries, Ltd., together with TPG, to acquire semiconductor equipment maker
Axcelis Technologies for $640 million.
- Toshiba/Xilinx. We represented Toshiba in the negotiation of its strategic foundry relationship with Xilinx under which Toshiba will
produce programmable semiconductor products for Xilinx.
- Toshiba/Micron Technology. We represented Toshiba in its $288 million acquisition of certain of Micron’s semiconductor patents and
of a license under all patents owned or previously owned by Lexar Media.
- Toshiba/M-Systems. We represented Toshiba in its NAND flash memory strategic alliance with M-Systems, involving licensing and supply
arrangements and the development and manufacture of DiskOnChip and DiskOnKey products.
- Toshiba/Mitsubishi Electric. We represented Toshiba and Mitsubishi Electric in the international aspects of Toshiba’s transfer of
its power semiconductor business to Mitsubishi.
- Toshiba/Matsushita. We represented Toshiba in the formation of its $1.3 billion joint venture with Matsushita to design, develop
and manufacture next generation flat panel displays in Singapore, including representing the joint venture in securing all
government approvals for its manufacturing facilities.
- Fujitsu/AMD. We represented Fujitsu in the restructuring and expansion of its flash memory joint venture with AMD, resulting in the
creation of the world’s second largest stand-alone flash company with 7000 employees and annual sales on formation of $3 billion.
- Fujitsu/Spansion. We represented Fujitsu in its $150 million purchase from Spansion Limited, of two semiconductor fabrication facilities
located in Aizu-Wakamatsu, Japan, and related equipment lease, supply and employee secondment and transfer arrangements.
- Fujitsu/Sun Microsystems. We represented Fujitsu in its multi-billion dollar strategic alliance with Sun to combine the parties’
Unix server development and distribution businesses, including agreements for the development and manufacture of server CPUs,
ASICs, and boards and the development, manufacture and sale of servers.
- Fujitsu/AU Optronics. We represented Fujitsu in its LCD alliance with NYSE listed AU Optronics, including AUO’s purchase of a 20%
interest in Fujitsu Display Technologies.
- Hitachi/IBM. We represented Hitachi in its $2 billion acquisition of IBM’s hard disk drive business (with over 20,000 employees in
8 countries), including a series of agreements with IBM for the supply of families of chips for the hard drive business.
- Sony/IBM. We represented Sony Computer Entertainment in the Sony group’s $1 billion investment in semiconductor fabrication lines
to manufacture chips using 65nm process on 300mm wafers, including its $325 million agreement with IBM for the manufacture
of next generation PlayStation 3 chips.
- Chartered Semiconductor/IBM. We represented Chartered Semiconductor in the establishment of a joint venture with IBM to develop 90nm and 65nm processes
for foundry chip production on 300mm silicon wafers, to allocate manufacturing capacity between the two foundries, and to
manufacture chips.
- Dainippon Screen/Applied Materials. We represented Dainippon Screen, a top 10 supplier of semiconductor fabrication equipment, in the creation
of a joint venture company with Applied Materials. The new company, called “SOKUDO Co., Ltd.”, combined Dainippon Screen’s
existing business in coater/developer track equipment with Applied Materials’ contribution of technology, key development
employees and US$150 million.
- Dainippon Screen/KLA-Tencor. We represented Dainippon Screen in its joint venture with KLA-Tencor Corporation, a U.S. semiconductor equipment
manufacturer based in California, for the development of deposition equipment.
- Advanced Semiconductor Engineering/NEC Electronics. We represented Taiwan’s ASE in its acquisition of NECEL's semiconductor packaging and testing facilities
in Takahata, Japan.
- NEC Electronics/ Link-A-Media Devices Corporation. We represented NEC Electronics in its preferred financing of Link-A-Media Devices, a technology
company based in Santa Clara, California.
- Intel Capital/Elpida. We represented Intel Capital in its $150 million investment in Elpida, a joint venture between Hitachi and NEC which
is the world’s fifth largest DRAM chip manufacturer.
