A Munich court has ruled in favor of Chinese memory chip maker YMTC in a patent infringement case against Micron Technology, issuing an injunction that bans the sale of certain infringing products in Germany. This marks the first substantial legal victory for YMTC in its global patent battle with Micron since November 2023.
The two disputed German utility models are DE202020006166U1, titled "Stepped structure for three-dimensional memory device" (case number 7 O 12615/25), and DE202021004551U1, titled "Barrier layer for word line contact in three-dimensional NAND memory" (case number 7 O 12614/25).
In addition, the Munich Regional Court heard three other lawsuits filed by YMTC against Micron, involving DE202018007011U1, DE202022003278U1, and European patent EP3931868. The court did not issue substantive rulings on these cases, instead postponing their hearings.
Micron Technology has responded swiftly, stating it disagrees with the Munich court's decision and has filed an appeal. The company is also challenging the validity of the relevant rights through other ongoing proceedings. In its response, Micron emphasized that German utility models are intellectual property rights registered with the German Patent Office without substantive examination, with a maximum protection period of 10 years.
Legal analysts point out that the actual enforcement of the injunction may depend on whether the Munich Higher Regional Court orders a suspension of enforcement during the appeal process. If the injunction is not suspended, YMTC is expected to initiate enforcement proceedings relatively quickly.
Public reports indicate that the global patent dispute between the two companies over 3D NAND technology has lasted nearly three years. In November 2023, YMTC filed a lawsuit against Micron in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, accusing it of infringing multiple patents related to 3D NAND. Since then, litigation has expanded to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, the High Court of England and Wales, the Unified Patent Court in Europe, and the Munich Regional Court in Germany.
Micron has been fighting back on multiple fronts, including filing invalidity challenges against YMTC patents before the U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board, and countersuing YMTC for alleged misappropriation of trade secrets in the U.S. District Court for the District of Idaho on September 16, 2026.
Market data shows that in the first quarter of 2026, YMTC ranked third globally among NAND Flash manufacturers in both sales value and shipment volume. According to the prospectus of its parent company, YMTC Holdings, the company held 6,088 granted patents as of March 31, 2026, including 5,611 invention patents, of which more than 2,000 are related to its Xtacking architecture.
Where to start
The 9th Semiconductor Large-Size Silicon Wafer Forum will be held in Xi'an on October 20–21, 2026. Hosted by ASIACHEM, the forum will include an industrial visit to Xi'an ESWIN Materials Technology Co., Ltd. (with limited spots). Experts from ESWIN Materials, National Silicon Industry Group, Zhongxin Wafer, Jinhongrui, Zhonghuan Leading, Shanghai Hejing, Shanghai Chaogui, Jingsheng Co., SEMI, Guangdong Xianxian, and Xi'an June Energy Superconductivity will deliver keynote presentations.
Why this rally matters for the semiconductor supply chain
Driven by strong demand from AI-HPC, GPU, and HBM applications, global demand for large-size silicon wafers has recovered significantly. According to the latest data from ASIACHEM, global semiconductor silicon wafer shipment area turned positive in 2025, with first-quarter 2026 shipments rising approximately 13% year-on-year to around 3.3 billion square inches, showing a clear market recovery, particularly for high-end 300mm advanced-process wafers.
The global silicon wafer industry remains highly concentrated, with five major players—Shin-Etsu Chemical, Sumco, Siltronic, GlobalWafers, and SK Siltron—maintaining their dominant positions. However, driven by new demand cycles and regional supply chain security concerns, their market share is facing increasing pressure from Chinese mainland manufacturers. Companies such as ESWIN Materials, National Silicon Industry Group, Youyan Semiconductor, Chaogui, Zhongxin Wafer, Jinhongrui (Leon Micro), and TCL Zhonghuan are rapidly advancing capacity expansion and customer qualification, steadily raising the domestic substitution rate for 12-inch silicon wafers in China.
Domestic silicon wafer demand continues to grow at a healthy pace, with 300mm large-size wafers becoming the mainstream choice for advanced logic, HBM high-bandwidth memory, advanced packaging, and other high-performance computing applications. Demand is especially pronounced in emerging applications such as AI data centers, new energy vehicles, and industrial electronics. Companies are increasing capital investment, making breakthroughs in key areas such as high-uniformity, low-defect single-crystal growth, epitaxial and SOI wafer manufacturing, and high-purity electronic-grade polysilicon, aiming to improve domestic supply capacity and global competitiveness while ensuring quality and yield.
Against the backdrop of rapid AI and computing power expansion, understanding the evolving trends in demand and supply for large-size semiconductor wafers, overcoming key technical bottlenecks in 300mm high-uniformity single-crystal growth, low-defect epitaxial and SOI manufacturing, and high-purity electronic-grade polysilicon, and further raising the domestic substitution rate while maintaining consistent quality have become core concerns for all players across the industry chain.
The 9th Semiconductor Large-Size Silicon Wafer Forum will take place in Xi'an on October 20–21, 2026. Organized by ASIACHEM, the forum brings together leading large-size silicon wafer companies and related materials and equipment suppliers to discuss topics including the global and Chinese large-size silicon wafer market landscape, project planning and construction progress, supply-demand and pricing trends, manufacturing technology and key materials and equipment, as well as the latest developments and outlook for electronic-grade polysilicon and silicon materials.
Forum report agenda
The detailed conference agenda and speaker lineup will be announced closer to the event date.
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