PowerWatch Sues Nanya on Two Expired DRAM Patents.

On September 24, 2026, PowerWatch Systems LLC sued Nanya Technology Corporation in the Eastern District of Texas, Marshall Division, No. 2:26-cv-00871. The complaint asserts at least claim 11 of U.S. Patent 7,281,079 and at least claims 6, 7, and 8 of U.S. Patent 7,432,731 against Nanya DRAM parts. It says both patents have expired. The prayer seeks damages for past infringement.

PowerWatch Systems LLC filed PowerWatch Systems LLC v. Nanya Technology Corporation, No. 2:26-cv-00871, in the Marshall Division of the Eastern District of Texas on September 24, 2026, and demands a jury. The case is assigned to Judge Rodney Gilstrap. Counsel is Timothy Devlin of Devlin Law Firm LLC.

The parties

The complaint describes PowerWatch as a Texas limited liability corporation with an address at 1400 Preston Road, Suite 461, Plano, Texas, and a presence in Longview. It describes Nanya as a Taiwan corporation with a place of business at No. 98 Nanlin Road, Dake Vil., Taishan District, New Taipei City, that designs, imports, manufactures, markets, and sells random access memory, including through U.S. sales subsidiaries it names as Nanya U.S.A. and Nanya Delaware. On venue, the complaint pleads 28 U.S.C. 1400(b) and, because Nanya is not a U.S. resident, 28 U.S.C. 1391(c)(3).

Patents and asserted claims

U.S. Patent 7,281,079, titled Method and Apparatus to Counter Mismatched Burst Lengths, issued October 9, 2007. The complaint names Kuljit S. Bains, John B. Halbert, and Randy B. Osborne as inventors and asserts at least claim 11. The complaint says the patent expired on November 16, 2024, and Google Patents lists the same date.
U.S. Patent 7,432,731, titled Method and Apparatus to Calibrate DRAM On Resistance (Ron) and On-Die Termination (ODT) Values Over Process, Voltage and Temperature (PVT) Variations, issued October 7, 2008. The complaint gives the issue date as October 7, 2007. It names Kuljit S. Bains, Navneet Dour, Hany Fahmy, George Vergis, and Christopher E. Cox as inventors and asserts at least claims 6, 7, and 8. The complaint says the patent expired on September 13, 2025, and Google Patents lists the same date.

The complaint alleges that PowerWatch is the assignee and exclusive owner of both patents, including the right to recover for past infringement. USPTO assignment records show both patents assigned by the inventors to Intel Corporation, by Intel to Tahoe Research, Ltd. (executed July 18, 2022), by Tahoe Research to Southfork IP Holdings LLC (executed August 19, 2026), and by Southfork to PowerWatch Systems LLC (executed September 20, 2026). The last two assignments were recorded on September 22, 2026, two days before the complaint was filed, and both patents had expired before PowerWatch acquired them. PowerWatch's disclosure statement names Equitable IP Corporation as its corporate parent.

What the asserted claims cover

The summaries below restate issued claim language. They are not findings that Nanya practices any claim.

Claim 11 of the '079 patent covers a memory IC. It has a first group of banks of memory with a first bank, a first row address decoder coupled to the first bank, and a first bank selection logic coupled to that decoder. It has a second group of banks with a second bank, a second row address decoder, and a second bank selection logic, all able to operate independently of the first bank, the first row address decoder, and the first bank selection logic. A control logic shared by both groups is coupled to both row address decoders and both bank selection logics. That control logic stores information concerning the state of all banks in the first group, including the first bank, and separately stores information concerning the state of all banks in the second group, including the second bank. A data buffer is shared by both groups.

Claim 6 of the '731 patent covers a method that receives a first command to calibrate on die termination circuitry in a memory, with an associated first calibration time window; places a memory input and an output and a memory core in a quiet mode; uses a resistor connected to a reference voltage to calibrate the on die termination circuitry to compensate for at least one of a process, a voltage, and a temperature variation; and receives a second command to calibrate that circuitry, with a second calibration time window shorter than the first. Claim 7 covers the method of claim 6 in which the first command is a command to calibrate a dynamic random access memory. Claim 8 covers the method of claim 6 in which using the resistor connected to a reference voltage uses a ZQ pin on the memory.

Accused products

The complaint defines the accused instrumentalities as systems and methods that include memory cell components using at least one of DDR3 or later versions, DDR3 or later versions with ZQ calibration, DDR3 or later versions with ODT capabilities, or DDR3 or later versions with two or more independently operable memory bank cells. The named examples include Nanya DRAMs, SDRAMs, and DIMMs, and these part numbers: NT5U64m16GG, NT5TU64M16GC-AC, Elixir N2CB2G80BN-CG, NT5TU64M16GG, NT6TL64M32AQ, DDR3(L)-2Gb J-Die NT5CB(C)256M8JQ and NT5CB(C)128M16JR, and DDR4-8Gb C-Die NT5AD2048M4C3, NT5AD1024M8C3, and NT5AD612M16C4. The part numbers are as printed in the complaint. The exemplary charts are Exhibits 1B and 2B. Exhibit 1B charts claim 11 of the '079 patent against the DDR4-8Gb C-Die parts, using a datasheet for part NT5AD512M16C4 where the complaint prints NT5AD612M16C4. Exhibit 2B charts claims 6 to 8 of the '731 patent using a datasheet for the DDR3(L)-2Gb J-Die parts.

Notice, willfulness, and the damages period

The notice section alleges that Nanya was in memory-patent litigation with Monterey Research LLC from November 4, 2019 to April 29, 2024, that Monterey is a wholly owned subsidiary of IPValue Management Inc., and that IPValue acquired Intel's memory portfolio on August 8, 2022. On that basis, and on information and belief, it alleges that Nanya had actual notice of the patents or, at a minimum, constructive notice from public releases about the acquisition. It separately alleges that on March 20, 2023 the prior patent owner sent Nanya a notice of patent infringement that listed the patents. The '079 count alleges willful infringement since at least August 8, 2022 or March 20, 2023. The '731 count's knowledge paragraph instead says August 8, 2022 or March 20, 2022, while its willfulness paragraph returns to August 8, 2022 or March 20, 2023.

Both patents are expired on the dates the complaint gives, so the case is about past infringement. For the '079 patent, the complaint limits liability to the period from the notice dates through expiration on November 16, 2024, and says that period is within the six-year statutory window. For the '731 patent, it asserts direct infringement from six years before the complaint through expiration on September 13, 2025, and willful and indirect infringement from the notice dates through expiration. Under 35 U.S.C. 286, no recovery shall be had for infringement committed more than six years before the complaint was filed. Expiration ends prospective relief. It does not, by itself, erase infringement committed inside that six-year period. Both expiration dates the complaint uses fall after September 24, 2020, six years before the September 24, 2026 filing.

What the complaint asks for

Each count pleads direct infringement, inducement under 35 U.S.C. 271(b), and contributory infringement under 35 U.S.C. 271(c). The contributory paragraphs say Nanya offered to sell, sold, and imported computerized trading platforms especially made for use in an infringement. The accused products described earlier in the complaint are DRAM parts, including the part numbers listed above. The prayer asks for an adjudication of infringement; damages for past infringement with interest, costs, expenses, and an accounting; and an exceptional-case finding under section 285 with an award of attorneys' fees. It does not ask for an injunction or for enhanced damages.

Why it matters

The suit puts a Taiwanese DRAM maker in Marshall on two expired Intel-origin memory patents, one about independently operable bank groups that share control logic and a data buffer, and one about command-based calibration of on die termination. PowerWatch took assignment of both patents after they expired, and the damages period turns on the notice dates the complaint pleads, which are not the same in every paragraph. Expect early disputes over which notice date controls and over how the contributory counts' trading-platform language is read against the DRAM product list.

What to watch next

Watch for service on Nanya, Nanya's response, and any challenge to personal jurisdiction or to PowerWatch's right to recover for past infringement.