The liquidating trust of Stanford Ovshinsky's long bankrupt company EDC (Energy Conversion Devices) is waging a legal battle against Intel and Micron. The trust is obligated to pay Ovonyx, a company Ovshinsky founded in 1998 with former Micron CTO Tyler Lowry to commercialize 3D XPoint, preferential negotiating rights to shares of Ovonyx and royalties on 3D XPoint innovations. The company believes that it is obligated to pay royalties on its 3D XPoint innovations. The Hall of Fame inventor passed away in 2012, shortly after EDC declared bankruptcy.

Under the agreement with Ovshinsky's company, Lowrey, EDC was to "license its valuable intellectual property to the entity to be established," which became Ovonyx. Under the agreement, EDC was entitled to receive 0.5 percent of more than $58 million in revenues generated from June 1999 through May 23, 2012.

Incidentally, 3D XPoint is the technology behind Intel's Optane memory, a form of nonvolatile memory. (To learn more about Intel Optane memory, click here.) Intel and Micron first announced in a joint press release that they were working on 3D XPoint technology on July 28, 2015. Intel introduced Optane to the consumer market in 2017, but Intel and Micron parted ways in late 2018. Micron bought Intel's stake in 3D XPoint and released the X100 SSD in October 2019.

However, when EDC went bankrupt, Micron acquired the rights to 3D XPoint; EDC sold its stake in Ovonyx to Micron as part of its bankruptcy proceedings. Intel acquired a preference interest in this stock in 2000. However, the lawsuit argues that EDC did not waive its rights to a percentage of the profits nor its "right of first refusal with respect to Lowrey's Ovonyx stock and Ovonyx's assets."

Essentially, the EDC Liquidating Trust is seeking a share of the profits from Intel and Micron's commercial sales of 3D XPoint-based products between 2017 and 2019. According to documents filed with the court by the Liquidating Trust, "ECD offered Micron the rights to ECD (under the 1998 and 1999 agreements), but Micron declined."

While most of the causes of action named in the lawsuit are against Micron, Intel is accused of aiding and abetting in the intentional attempt to keep money legally owed to EDC. The Computer Business Review has more details on what counts Intel and Micron are being sued under.