SAN FRANCISCO—Micron Technology Inc. will license the patent portfolio of Mosaid Technologies Inc., and Mosaid will acquire 400 Micron patents under the terms of an agreement to settle pending litigation, the companies announced Monday (Feb. 2).

Under the terms of the patent license agreement, Micron receives a 10-year license to certain of Mosaid's patents, including a life-of-patents license for all such patents through a defined capture period and a term license for subsequent patents, the companies said.

Micron's DRAM, flash, and other memory and image sensor products are licensed under the agreement, and Micron will make a series of cash payments to Mosaid, the companies said.

"The transfer of a large number of patents from Micron—an innovative company that is known for the strength of its patents—will contribute greatly to Mosaid's semiconductor patent licensing program," said John Lindgren, Mosaid president and CEO, in a statement.

In July 2006, Mosaid (Ottawa, Canada) initiated litigation in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas against Micron and other DRAM vendors, claiming that alleged that the companies infringed nine of its U.S. patents.

Micron filed a complaint asking that 14 Mosaid patents be declared invalid, which was later dismissed by a U.S. District Court judge.

Last year, Mosaid reached a settlement with Taiwan's Powerchip Semiconductor Corp., one of the other DRAM vendors named in the original July 2006 patent infringement complaint.