By Blake Brittain

(Reuters) – Realtek Semiconductor Corp sued rival Taiwanese chipmaker MediaTek Inc in Northern California federal court docket on Tuesday, claiming MediaTek paid an organization that sues over patents a “secret litigation bounty” to file meritless lawsuits in the USA to disrupt its enterprise.

The lawsuit accuses MediaTek of conspiring with IPValue Administration Inc in an effort to drive Realtek out of the market and monopolize the business for chips utilized in sensible televisions and set-top packing containers.

MediaTek owns practically 60 p.c of the worldwide market share for tv chips, the lawsuit mentioned.

Realtek mentioned in a press release that it filed the lawsuit to “defend free and honest competitors within the business” and “forestall additional hurt to the general public.”

MediaTek and IPValue didn’t instantly reply to requests for touch upon the lawsuit.

Realtek mentioned MediaTek signed a patent licensing settlement with IPValue subsidiary Future Hyperlink Methods LLC in 2019 that included the key “bounty” settlement.

The settlement was revealed final yr in patent litigation involving Future Hyperlink in West Texas federal court docket and on the U.S. Worldwide Commerce Fee, in line with the lawsuit. Realtek mentioned Future Hyperlink has stored particulars of the settlement “buried below confidentiality obligations and protecting orders.”

The ITC referred to as the settlement “alarming” and mentioned it “could be untoward and actionable,” whereas the West Texas court docket mentioned it was “improper” and “ought to be discouraged as a matter of public coverage.”

Future Hyperlink settled a number of different patent circumstances towards tech firms together with MediaTek competitor Amlogic quickly after the ITC criticized it, Realtek mentioned.

Realtek mentioned MediaTek has used the patent lawsuits, which search to take its allegedly infringing chips off the market, to counsel to clients that Realtek could also be an “unreliable provider” for the tv chip business.

Realtek requested the court docket to order the businesses to finish the alleged conspiracy and requested an unspecified amount of cash damages.

The case is Realtek Semiconductor Corp v. MediaTek Inc, U.S. District Court docket for the Northern District of California, No. 5:23-cv-02774.

For Realtek: Rudy Kim, Michael Murray and Nafeesah Attah of Paul Hastings; Steven Baik of White Hat Authorized

For MediaTek and IPValue: legal professional data not out there