Mentor Graphics Corp has settled the patent infringement suit filed against it by Quickturn Systems Inc, now a part of Cadence Design Systems Inc. Quickturn had accused Mentor of infringing its patents in the SimExpress product line, and had won a series of rulings against Mentor in both US and European courts. The consent judgment was agreed to by the parties during a jury trial in Portland, Oregon, which began on June 9.
The parties agreed that five Quickturn US patents were valid, enforceable, and had been infringed by Mentor’s sale of the SimExpress product line in the US. Mentor can no longer produce, market or sell SimExpress emulation systems in the US. The judgment and injunction are not effective outside of the US. Mentor had already been prohibited from selling the software in the US and German markets.
Mentor originally acquired the SimExpress computer hardware emulator from Meta Systemes SA, from Saclay in France in October 1996 (CI No 2,930). Quickturn had already accused Meta of patent infringement before the acquisition took place.
