On July 3, the official wechat of Norse Microsystems released a major statement saying that Norse (Tianjin) Microsystems Co., Ltd. and Anwar High-tech Co., Ltd. have reached a settlement on all disputes between the two sides.

Source: North Microsystems

The two parties have withdrawn and terminated litigation against each other or their affiliates and customers, and have entered into cross-licensing agreements for certain of their Chinese patents.

In 2015, Anwar Technology accused the founder of North Microsystems of allegedly stealing information related to its filter chip; In 2016, Norwich Microsystems found that the filtering chips sold by Avagor to Apple used patented technology developed by Norwich, and disassembled Apple devices for evidence. Norsmicro Systems filed a lawsuit against Apple in the First Intermediate Court of Tianjin; In 2017, Norsys Microsystems sued Apple in the first Middle Court of Tianjin for infringement of the intellectual property rights of Norsys Microsystems and its founder. In 2018, Avagor filed a lawsuit against Norsmicro and the founder of the Tianjin First Intermediate People's Court on patent ownership issues, while Apple filed a lawsuit against the State Intellectual Property Office of China in the Beijing Intellectual Property Court requiring it to declare the patents of Norsmicro and the founder invalid. From the end of 2018 to 2019, the progress of the case almost stalled, and the litigation on both sides entered a "shutdown" state.

The announcement marks the end of nearly a decade of litigation between the two chip companies.

Photo: Zhang Hao (Credit: Bloomberg)

The protagonist of the case, Zhang Hao, has also caused great concern in the chip and education circles.

After receiving his PhD in electrical engineering from the University of Southern California in 2006, Hao Zhang worked for Skyworks, a global leader in radio frequency devices. While at the University of Southern California, he met Pang Wei, who worked at Avago, and the two returned to teach at Tianjin University, and in 2011 jointly established Norse (Tianjin) Microsystems Co., LTD., the main products are FBAR filters.

In 2015, Zhang Hao was arrested while flying to Los Angeles to attend an academic conference, and he was subsequently charged by the US government with "conspiracy to commit economic espionage";, believing that Zhang Hao and Pang Wei stole information related to the filter chip of the industry giant Avago while working in the United States, brought it back to Tianjin University and created Norse Microsystems.

At that time, a person close to Zhang Hao and North Company said that Zhang Hao and Pang Wei were already leaders in the field of MEMS filter chips in the United States, approved by the United States patent department, and obtained seven patents in the United States. After the two men entered Tianda and established Norse, Tianda and Norse have obtained more than 200 patents in this field.

Figure: Evolution of package size of North filter products

In 2016, North found that the filter chip that Avagor sold to Apple used the patented technology developed by Pang Wei and Zhang Hao, and disassembled Apple's handheld device for evidence. On September 28, 2017, North had filed a lawsuit against Apple in the Tianjin Intermediate Court, but the trial was shelved for various reasons.

In 2020, the case that has dragged on for 5 years finally ushered in the final judgment. On June 27, Zhang Hao was found guilty of stealing trade secrets and economic espionage by a court in SAN Jose, California. On August 31, a federal court held a sentencing hearing, and the final sentence was handed down on September 1-18 months in prison and $477,000 in restitution.

According to official data, Norse (Tianjin) Microsystems Co., Ltd. was founded in 2011, headquartered in Tianjin, with a total registered capital of 300 million yuan, is China's first FBAR (thin film bulk acoustic wave resonator) production enterprise. The company is engaged in the design, development, manufacturing and sales of RF front-end MEMS (micro-electromechanical system) filter chips, modules and application solutions for wireless equipment, and its core products have the international leading level.