AEM says US court has dismissed Advantest’s patent infringement complaint
But court has granted Advantest leave to file an amended complaint
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[SINGAPORE] AEM Holdings on Thursday (Jul 2) said a US court has dismissed a patent infringement complaint filed against the company and its subsidiaries by Advantest Test Solutions.
In an order dated Jun 29, the US District Court for the Southern District of California ruled that California-based semiconductor firm Advantest failed to adequately plead direct or indirect patent infringement.
The dispute centred on allegations that AEM subsidiaries AEM Singapore and AEM Americas infringed two US patents held by Advantest. The patents cover precision temperature-control hardware used during semiconductor testing to identify defective chips early, thereby improving manufacturing yields and reducing waste.
According to AEM, the court stated that it is insufficient for Advantest to allege infringing acts based solely on the existence of AEM’s own patent applications.
While the court dismissed the complaint, which was originally filed in October 2025, it granted Advantest leave to file an amended complaint.
AEM stated that it does not expect the court’s ruling to have any material impact on its business operations or financial position. The company added that it will continue to evaluate further filings on the matter, and that it is prepared to “vigorously defend its own issued patents and intellectual property, if necessary”.
The company in October denied the allegations, but its share price took an 8.8 per cent hit on the day the complaint was disclosed. AEM said then that it does not practise the wafer level test system in question, and that the complaints “lack merit”.
This comes after AEM and Advantest were previously involved in an arbitration case that led to a settlement in 2023. That agreement involved AEM making two payments worth US$9 million and US$11 million to Advantest.
Shares of AEM were down 6.8 per cent or S$0.74 at S$10.20 on Thursday at the midday trading break, before the news.
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