Context: Yangtze Memory Technologies Corp. (YMTC) and Micron are embroiled in a global patent battle over 3D NAND flash memory. Last week we reported that YMTC asked a U.S. district court to unstay an infringement case with respect to multiple patents (September 9, 2026 ip fray article).
What’s new: Today the Munich I Regional Court’s 7th Civil Chamber (Presiding Judge: Dr. Oliver Schoen (“Schön”)) granted YMTC injunctions over two German utility models (unexamined patents with a 10-year lifespan), DE202020006166U1 (“Staircase structure of a three-dimensional storage device”; case no. 7 O 12615/25) and DE202021004551U1 (“Barrier layers for word line contacts in three-dimensional NAND memory”; case no. 12614/25). Two other cases (case no. 7 O 12609725 over DE202018007011U1 (“Three-dimensional storage device with multiple stacks”) and case no. 7 O 12616/25 over DE202022003278U1 (“Three-dimensional storage devices”)) as well as case no. 7 O 12593/25 over EP3931868 (“Three-dimensional memory device with deposited semiconductor plugs and methods for forming the same”) were adjourned.
Direct impact: This is a breakthrough for YMTC. Enforcement will likely begin soon unless the appeals court (the Munich Higher Regional Court) stays both injunctions.
Wider ramifications: The patents-in-suit in German infringement cases are typically European patents in the sense of patents granted by the European Patent Office (EPO). But some companies still file for national patents with the German Patent and Trademark Office. In the future, that filing strategy will be more important as the UPC will at some point gain exclusive jurisdiction over EPO-granted patents (the transitional period ends in 2030, and may or may not be extended). In this case, the intellectual property rights-in-suit are utility models derived from patent applications.
Both sides were represented by very large teams of attorneys-at-law and patent attorneys, a fact that reflects the high stakes of the German part of this global dispute.
Court and counsel
YMTC was represented by Hoyng Rokh Monegier (ip fray firm profile) attorneys-at-law Klaus Haft, Sven Krause, Dr. Alexander Bothe, and Elisa in den Birken, and patent attorneys Dr. Andrew Lin and Christopher Pierce; Samson & Partner patent attorneys Dr. Wolfgang Lippich, Dr. Cletus von Pichler, Dr. Georg Jacoby; Stefan Koenig (“König”), Matthias Goepfert (“Göpfert”), Dr. Alexander Ruschke; and (in case no. 7 O 12593/25, which has not been decided yet) Bird & Bird attorneys-at-law Oliver Jan Juengst (“Jüngst”), Lucas Brons, Niklas Kabel, and patent attorneys Dr. Felix Landry and Leonard Lotz.
Micron was represented by Bardehle Pagenberg (ip fray firm profile) attorneys-at-law Prof. Dr. Tilman Mueller-Stoy (“Müller-Stoy”), Dr. Jan Boesing (“Bösing”), Dr. Tobias Wuttke, Dr. Stefan Lieck, Benedikt Dellen, Lisa Engelbert, Max Weiler, and patent attorneys Dr. Christof Karl, Tobias Kaufmann, Dr. Patrick Daum, Dr. Niels Malkomes, Dr. Philipp Bovenkamp, Daniel Werner, Jakob Scheffel, Sabrina Huett (“Hütt”), Dr. Thomas Kotzott, and Dr. Andreas Aigner.