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MEMS Gyroscope Patents
A new fight for market ownership
Nano Micro Biz
- Tokyo Big Sight - July 4, 2013 -
© 2013
75 Cours Emile Zola, F-69100 Villeurbanne - Lyon, France
Tel: +33 472 83 01 80 - Fax: +33 472 83 01 83
Web: http://www.yole.fr

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MEMS GYROSCOPE MARKET

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Geographic Overview of Current Gyro
Players + Potential Newcomers

Combos are Driving the Inertial Sensor Market
• Discrete sensors decline but will still be used
in some platforms
• 6-axis IMUs are the hottest market since 2012
• Because of strong price pressure and high
adoption rate, the total market will stabilize
from 2015
Market ($M)
2000
1800
1600
1400
1200
1000
800
600
400
Inertial sensors for mobile phones and tablets ‐
2010‐2018 market ($M)
Yole développement © May 2013
200
0
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
MEMS accelerometers
Magnetometers
6DOF E‐compass
MEMS gyroscopes
6DOF IMUs
9DOF Combos
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DIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGIES

L3G4IS Dual Core Gyro
Teardown of Nokia Lumia 920
• This gyro is integrated in the cameramodule and is
able to provide both the image stabilization function
and the user interface function (replace the gyroscope
on the main board)
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InvenSense MPU-6050

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InvenSense MPU-9150

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PATENT LANDSCAPE

Evolution of the MEMS Gyro Patent
Publication Timeline
No. of Patent Families
220
200
180
160
140
120
100
80
60
40
20
0
Patent Filing Trends for MEMS Gyro Technologies (includes relevant and
related)
Note: Most patents
filed in 2011 – 2012
not published yet
Priority years
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Is IP Used in Commercial Products?
Some examples
IP Product on the market IP Product on the market
IP
Product on the market
IP
Product on the market
+ hundreds of variations
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Regional Comparison
Percentage of filed patents vs. revenues by headquarters
location
60%
Regional Comparison of % Filed Patents vs.
Revenue by Competitor HQ Location
Yole développement © Feb. 2013
(includes relevant and related)
Geographical patent distribution by
publication country
50%
40%
30%
Total 2012 revenue by
competitor location in
%
% of filed patents
20%
10%
0%
Japan USA China Germany Other
• “In domain” patents are filed mainly by firms and universities located in Japan and the USA
• However, a significant portion of the actual business is done by German (Bosch) and Italian
(STMicro) companies. The lesson: generating patents doesn’t mean generating business!
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TOP 10 Leading Patent Applicants
Top 10 Patent Assignees for MEMS Gyro Patents (includes relevant and related)
Assignee
No. of Patent Families
0 100 200 300 400 500 600
PANASONIC (JP)
MURATA (JP)
SONY (JP)
BOSCH (DE)
HONEYWELL (US)
SEIKO EPSON (JP)
ADI (US)
WACOH (JP)
ST MICRO (FR/IT)
CEA (FR)
UNIV SHANGHAI (CN)
QUALCOMM (US)
DRAPER LABORATORY (US)
INVENSENSE (US)
MOVEA (FR)
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125
89 20
42 47
51 9
31 29
57 1
32 17
26 18
41 2
27 11
30 6
27 5
15 13
14
447
472
37
9
Relevant
Related
Notes:
- Graph doesn’t include licensing agreements (i.e. from CEA to
Movea for some patents, while post-2008 co-developed patents are
included in both CEA and Movea’s portfolios)
- VTI Technologies’ patents are included within Murata’s

Assignee Collaborative Network
(Includes relevant and related)
• This diagram shows each assignee’s number of patent families and the number of co-filings with other assignees
• The black number between assignees represents the number of co-filings. The white number is the number of
patent families for this assignee in the data set
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Patent Filing Trends
3 categories of patents
120
100
MEMS design & process
Circuit & IC design
Applications
Patent filing trends for each segment
No. of Patent Families
80
60
40
Note: Most patents
filed in 2011 – 2012
not published yet
20
0
1970 1972 1982 1984 1986 1988 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012
Priority years
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Top Patent Assignees
Top 10 patent assignees for each segment
Applications
PANASONIC (JP)
SONY (JP)
No. of Patent Families
0 20 40 60 80
69
25
Note:
- This doesn’t include licensing agreements (i.e.
from CEA to Movea for some patents, while post-
2008 co-developed patents are included in both
CEA and Movea’s portfolios)
MURATA (JP)
20
QUALCOMM (US)
20
INVENSENSE (US)
16
HILLCREST LABS (US)
13
MOVEA (FR)
11
BOSCH (DE)
10
CEA (FR)
NORTHROP GRUMMAN
(US)
7
5
Approx. 100 players involved.
Top 10 accounts for 69% of patent filings;
Panasonic alone accounts for 24%
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CASE STUDY: INVENSENSE

History of some MEMS Gyro Patent Disputes
STMicro vs. InvenSense
• As STMicro and InvenSense battled each other on the consumer side, a second front was opened in 2012 by ST
on the IP side
• May 2012
– STMicroelectronics NV filed a complaint in the Northern District of California alleging that InvenSense Inc., infringes on nine ST
patents:
• Three patents on MEMS/ASIC integration in particular using a cavity, similar thermal expansion coefficients and an electrical
connection
• Two patents on functional aspect: gyroscope structure and offset compensation
• Other patents: two linked to applications (free-fall detection & motion detection for power management) + two linked to electric
circuitry (charge pump + protection circuit)
• July 2012
– InvenSense files its answer (denying any infringement) and brings its own counter-claims Against ST
• One patent on functional aspect (cancellation of quadrature error)
• One patent on structural aspect for 2-axis gyro + wafer level packaging
• March 2013
– InvenSense announces stay motion court win in patent litigation brought by STMicroelectronics
– ST’s lawsuit is put on hold and the USPTO will have time to fully reevaluate ST's patents. First results indicate substantial
questions of patentability on some of ST’s patents
• March 2013
– ST sues InvenSense over sensors in wireless gadgets
– ST accuses InvenSense of making MEMS devices that infringe on four related patents
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Patent Portfolio – Legal Details
Legal Status of InvenSense’s Relevant Patents for MEMS Gyro
Technology
(all members of each patent family)
Lapsed
2 (3%)
Pending
39 (66%)
Unavailable
1 (2%)
Granted
17 (29%)
No. of patents
20
18
16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
Pending
Granted
2 3
2 2 2 1 1
• Among the 59 patents constituting the 27 relevant patent families of InvenSense’s portfolio, 56 are active
(pending or granted) and two are inactive (lapsed). The majority of InvenSense’s patents are pending; this
reflects the patent portfolio’s youth.
• Note: The data corresponding to the years 2011 and 2012 may not be complete since a significant number of
patent applications filed during those years may not be published yet.
3
3
18
1
7
3
3 3
1 1
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
Filing year
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Forward/Backward Citations Map
Main Assignees Cited by
InvenSense’s MEMS Gyro Patent Portfolio
Main Assignees Citing
InvenSense’s MEMS Gyro Patent Portfolio
11
16
14
11
11
8
9
8
8
MEMS Gyro
Patent Portfolio
7
• The black number is the number of citing (cited) patent families. The arrow shows the target and the source
• Citations are derived from the entire patent database* used for this study, and not just from the corpus of selected patents for
MEMS gyro technologies.
• *FamPat database, 90+ patent offices, 60M+ patent documents
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Detail between Process Flow and IP Portfolio
Case study: InvenSense MPU-9150 9-axis sensor
TEARDOWN
PATENT
Patent included
in this report’s
scope
X-Y AXIS DUAL-MASS TUNING FORK GYROSCOPE
WITH VERTICALLY-INTEGRATED ELECTRONICS
AND WAFER-SCALE HERMETIC PACKAGING
(US20050081633) – filed 10/2003
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MEMS Gyro Patent Landscape
Conclusion
• There is a significant difference between the position of companies in the patent
landscape and those in the business landscape
• Some changes are still expected for future gyroscope technologies
• The focus has shifted to the software side, where considerable value can be created
• IP disputes are ongoing, and this trend should continue
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Thank You for your Attention!
Q&A
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