Seattle-based Internet of Things company Impinj Inc. (Nasdaq: PI) has won a settlement with competitor NXP Semiconductors (Nasdaq: NXPI) in a patent dispute.
Under the agreement, NXP is paying Impinj an upfront payment of $45 million plus annual licensing fees, which start with $15 million this year but will increase by a set percentage each year for roughly 10 years, when Impinj's disputed patents expire. The settlement, disclosed in a Wednesday regulatory filing, stops all proceedings and patent disputes between the two companies, which date back as far as 2019 in filings at the U.S. Northern District Court of California.
In a news release, Impinj co-founder and CEO Chris Diorio said the company's patents "are the hard-earned fruits of that passion and reflect significant investment, dedication and sheer hard work. We are committed to safeguarding those patented inventions, ensuring free and fair competition and innovating solutions for our enterprise end users."
Impinj and NXP are releasing each other from any patent claims that precede the end of March, and each company can now make and sell their products.
Related coverage
At issue were Impinj's computer chips, which Impinj alleged NXP copied to mimic Impinj's technology.
"We are pleased to have reached a resolution with Impinj, allowing both parties to amicably move forward. The specific terms of the agreement are confidential, and as a matter of policy, we cannot comment further," an NXP spokesperson said in a statement.
Impinj, founded in 2000, connects physical goods like apparel and automobile parts to the internet through computer chips and software, helping clients identify, track and verify their assets. The company says it has connected more than 85 billion items to the internet. Its clients include Coca-Cola, Volvo and Cisco.
In February, Impinj laid off about 10% of its staff, or nearly 50 workers. In July, the company announced a new 29,000-square-foot testing facility in Beacon Hill, adding to its 66,000-square-foot headquarters at 400 Fairview Ave. N. in South Lake Union. Impinj generated $307.5 million in revenue in 2023, up from $257.8 million in revenue during 2022.
Netherlands-based NXP, meanwhile, has a U.S. subsidiary headquartered in Austin, Texas. The company makes a variety of computer chips, processors and microcontrollers. NXP generated $13.28 billion in revenue last year, up 1% year over year.
