お知らせ • Nov 24
Akoustis Technologies, Inc. Provides an Update on Lawsuit
As previously reported, on May 17, 2024, after a trial in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware (the “District Court”) in the matter of Qorvo Inc. vs. Akoustis Technologies, Inc. DE Case 1:21-cv-01417-JPM (the “Qorvo Litigation”), a jury verdict was entered in favor of plaintiff, Qorvo Inc. (“Qorvo”), and against Akoustis Technologies, Inc. (the “Company”). On November 21, 2024, the District Court entered an amended final judgment (the “Judgment”) against the Company consisting of the amounts of (i) $38,595,023.00 caused by the Company’s infringement and misappropriation, (ii) $11,743,745.54 in attorneys’ fees awarded by the District Court, (iii) $51,782.00 in pre-judgment interest for patent infringement, (iv) $6,589,064.41 in pre-judgment interest for misappropriation of trade secrets under North Carolina law, and (v) post-judgment interest on the damages awards included in items (i) through (iv) at a rate of 5.138%, calculated daily and compounded annually from the respective dates of the various awards, being May 20, 2024 with respect to item (i), September 9, 2024 with respect to item (ii), September 10, 2024 with respect to item (iii), and September 10, 2024 with respect to item (iv) (items (i) through (v) are collectively referred to herein as the “Fees and Interest Awards”). The Judgment additionally granted the previously entered injunctive relief against the Company in favor of Qorvo (the “Injunctive Order”), as described in the Company’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on October 16, 2024. The Injunctive Order provides that: the Company is permanently enjoined from possessing any confidential information copied or derived from certain trade secrets that the jury found the Company to have misappropriated (“Qorvo Trade Secret Information”), selling or distributing any product made using Qorvo Trade Secret Information, and promoting or otherwise providing services that use Qorvo Trade Secret Information; the Company is required to engage, at its expense, an e-discovery vendor to assist with the identification, collection and removal of any Qorvo confidential information and Qorvo Trade Secret Information from any of the Company’s databases, document management systems, email accounts, computers and other storage media, and paper files; for a period of four years from the issuance of the Injunctive Order, Qorvo will have the right to conduct audits of the Company through an independent third party, a maximum of once per calendar year, with the expense of such audits to be split evenly between the Company and Qorvo (unless an audit shows a violation of the Injunctive Order, in which case the Company will bear the full cost of such audit). The audit rights terminate after two years if no violations are found in the first two years; and the Company is permanently enjoined from making, using or selling in the United States, or importing into the United States, certain Company products found by the jury to infringe the two asserted Qorvo patents, or any products not more than colorably different than such products. The verdict in the Qorvo Litigation awarding Qorvo approximately $38.6 million in damages together with the Fees and Interest Awards in the aggregate amount of approximately $18.4 million, plus interest accrued and accruing thereon, have created significant uncertainty regarding the Company’s financial condition and prospects. The Company is evaluating the impact of the Judgment on its business, results of operations, and financial condition. However, depending on the Company’s ability to arrange any financing or any strategic alternative, the Company will be required to seek protection under applicable bankruptcy laws.