Patent ‘Bounty’ Antitrust Suit Against MediaTek Clears Hurdle

Chip giant MediaTek Inc. must continue defending an antitrust suit over a licensing deal it reached with a patent-monetization firm that included a $1 million incentive to sue smaller rival Realtek Semiconductor Corp., a California federal judge ruled.

Judge Casey Pitts of the US District for the Northern District of California said in a Tuesday order that MediaTek and patent-licensing entity Future Link Systems LLC had failed to show the antitrust suit was precluded by a Texas judge’s earlier decision.

Pitts ruled the defendants’ summary judgment motion failed in part because “Realtek did not have a full opportunity to provide ...