Fairchild Semiconductor, which has a computer chip production facility in South Portland, announced today that it has filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Infineon Technologies AG.

Fairchild said it believes certain Infineon CoolMOS and OptiMOS branded products, as well as other Infineon IGBT and CanPAK products, infringe on one or more of eight Fairchild patents.

Fairchild has brought claims against Infineon in U.S. District Court in Maine and the U.S. District Court in Delaware.

The two companies have been involved in extended cross-license negotiations, and the dispute recently escalated to litigation.

"We are very confident in our position in this ongoing patent dispute and will fight to protect our intellectual property," said Justin Chiang, Fairchild's senior vice president and general manager, Power Conversion, Industrial and Automotive Products.

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