SK Hynix (CEO Park Sung-wook) announced on Aug. 5 that it would expand a partnership with SanDisk, a U.S.-based supplier of flash memory solutions. The partnership includes the agreements to modify and extend their intellectual property licensing relationship and enter into a commercial relationship under which SK Hynix will supply its DRAM products to SanDisk.
The two companies signed an IP licensing agreement in 2007 and they have agreed to extend the contract period this time. Under these agreements, which will expire on March 31, 2023, SanDisk will license certain intellectual property rights to SK Hynix in exchange for license and royalty payments to be made over the duration of the agreement. In addition, SK Hynix has agreed to supply SanDisk with a certain amount of its DRAM products for MCP and SSD solutions.
The agreements also include a complete settlement of the trade-secret misappropriation suit filed by SanDisk in March last year.
Through this partnership, SK Hynix can not only obviate uncertainty in management but also focus more on product development. Also, the company expects to strengthen its position as the leading company of memory semiconductors due to the stable supply of its products.