According to IBM's official statement, the company invented magnetoresistive MRAM memory in 1996. The development appeared after studying thin-film structures for magnetic plates and magnetic heads of hard drives. The effect of magnetic tunnel junctions discovered by the company's engineers prompted the idea of ββusing the phenomenon to organize semiconductor memory cells. Initially, IBM developed MRAM memory together with Motorola. Then the licenses were sold to Micron, Toshiba, TDK, Infineon and a host of other companies. Why this excursion into history? It turned out that Seagate, one of the two remaining hard drive manufacturers in the world, has extensive patents on MRAM production technologies.
Yesterday Seagate , that it has an extensive cross-licensing agreement for patent sharing and licensing between it and Everspin Technologies. It is alleged that Seagate and Everspin have each spent years on research and development that will be extremely beneficial to each of the opposing parties. Thus, Seagate transferred to Everspin the rights to use its own developments in the field of MRAM, and Everspin allowed Seagate to use its technologies in the production of magnetic heads based on the Tunneling Magneto Resistance (TMR) effect.
In essence, Seagate and Everspin have aligned a patent base that can help each of them advance in their respective fields. Everspin's licenses will help Seagate improve magnetic heads for hard drives, and Seagate's licenses will not interfere with Everspin's development and production of MRAM. In August, Everspin just mass production of 1-Gbit STT-MRAM chips and possible licensing disputes with Seagate would only harm this still poorly developed area of ββββsemiconductor memory production.
Source: 3dnews.ru