SAN JOSE, Calif. -- NOR flash vendor Spansion Inc. claimed victory in its patent litigation suits against South Korea's Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.

As part of the settlement, Samsung will pay Spansion $70 million. Spansion (Sunnyvale, Calif.) and Samsung Electronics have exchanged rights in their patent portfolios in the form of licenses and covenants subject to a confidential settlement agreement. The settlement ends the patent disputes between the two companies.

In November, Spansion filed two separate patent infringement complaints against Samsung with the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) and in the U.S. District Court in Delaware. Spansion was seeking the exclusion from the U.S. market of MP3 players, cell phones, digital cameras and other consumer electronic devices containing Samsung's flash memory components.

The complaint in the U.S. District Court in Delaware also sought an injunction and treble damages based on Samsung's sale of flash memory.

Although Samsung was the target of the complaints, Spansion named the manufacturers of the downstream products in the ITC complaint. Companies named in the ITC case include Samsung, Apple, Asus, Kingston, Lenovo, PNY, RIM, Sony, Sony-Ericsson, Transcend, among others.

The Spansion patents named in these suits involve floating-gate technology in flash memory designs. In its NOR flash products, Spansion has implemented charge-trapping technology, which is expected to replace floating-gate technology in the future. Flash memory companies, including Samsung, have announced their plans to transition to charge-trapping in future products.

Following the suit, Samsung counterclaimed in the court against Spansion for infringement of its own patents seeking damages and an injunction. On Jan. 28, Samsung filed a patent infringement complaint in Japan against Spansion Japan Ltd., seeking both injunctive relief and damages for based upon Japanese patents owned by Samsung.

Each of these actions is to be dismissed pursuant to the settlement agreement with neither side admitting liability.

Due to Spansion's recent Chapter 11 filing, the agreement is also subject to approval by the bankruptcy court. The agreement is contingent upon the dismissal of the claims and the satisfaction of certain conditions including bankruptcy court approval.

As reported, Spansion, the world's largest NOR flash supplier, has filed for bankruptcy amid growing anger among former employees at the company.