IBM’s $10M Award on IP Agreement Breach in Question

International Business Machines Corp. was properly awarded damages for United Microelectronics Corp.'s breach of an intellectual property contract, but the amount of the award is in question, the Second Circuit ruled March 11.

There was still a fact question as to whether the $10 million award was appropriate or if damages should have been capped at $2 million, the court said.

United Microelectronics agreed to license IBM’s intellectual property to manufacture silicon wafers for semiconductors in China. The agreement conditioned the license on UMC establishing a subsidiary with a factory in China, and UMC paying IBM $10 million. When the ...