Fremont, California-based audio chip maker ESS Technology Inc said it has backed down and agreed to a settlement in the patent infringement suit filed against it by multimedia hardware company Creative Technology Ltd in March (CI No 3,372). No terms of the settlement were divulged other than that it was made to the parties’ mutual satisfaction and that ESS is now under license from Creative for the disputed technology. The suit was centered around patented PCI audio technology which was developed by E-mu Systems Inc, a company that was acquired by Creative in 1993. Creative alleged that ESS’s Maestro-2 audio chip illegally used technology covered by the E-mu patent. Creative also filed suit against Diamond Multimedia Systems Inc over the same patent.
