Federal Circuit Upholds $9.5 Million Attorneys' Fee and Cost Award to MPS

SAN JOSE, Calif., Aug. 15, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Monolithic Power Systems (MPS) (Nasdaq: MPWR), a leading fabless manufacturer of high-performance analog and mixed-signal semiconductors, announced today that the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has affirmed a district court's order finding O2 Micro International, Ltd. (O2 Micro) liable for attorneys' fees and nontaxable costs in patent litigation in which MPS prevailed in 2010.  Including interest and taxable costs, O2 Micro is now liable to pay MPS approximately $9.5 million.

After prevailing on O2 Micro's patent infringement claims, MPS asked the district court to award taxable court costs, attorneys' fees and other nontaxable litigation costs on grounds that the case was "exceptional" under Section 285 of the Patent Act.  The district court ultimately awarded MPS approximately $9.1 million in attorneys' fees and taxable costs, approximately $340,000 in taxable costs, and interest on those amounts.  O2 Micro appealed to the Federal Circuit, but yesterday a unanimous panel affirmed both the "exceptional case" finding and the full amount of the fee award.  O2 Micro still has the right to pursue further appellate review by filing a petition for rehearing by the Federal Circuit or by filing a petition for certiorari with the United States Supreme Court.  Nevertheless, Saria Tseng, MPS's Vice President and General Counsel, said that "MPS is pleased with the Federal Circuit's decision, and we hope that this will be the final chapter in the history of contentious litigation between the two companies."

MPS was represented in the appeal by Dan Bagatell of Perkins Coie LLP and by Dean Dunlavey and Mark Flagel of Latham & Watkins LLP.

About Monolithic Power Systems, Inc.

Monolithic Power Systems (MPS) is a fabless semiconductor company specializing in high-performance analog ICs. Founded in 1997, MPS's core technology is its innovative and proprietary manufacturing process combined with superior analog circuit design capabilities across system-level and end customer applications. These combined advantages enable MPS to deliver highly integrated monolithic products that offer energy efficient and cost-effective solutions. MPS product families include DC/DC converters, LED drivers and controllers, Class-D audio amplifiers, battery chargers and protections, USB and current-limit switches and AC/DC offline products. MPS has over 900 employees worldwide, located in the United States, China, Taiwan, Korea, Japan and across Europe.

Monolithic Power Systems, MPS, and the MPS logo are registered trademarks of Monolithic Power Systems, Inc. in the U.S. and trademarked in certain other countries.

SOURCE Monolithic Power Systems, Inc.