Wolfspeed suit puts Navitas power-chip lineup under pressure

A courtroom fight over wide-bandgap chips

Navitas Semiconductor said Wednesday it will “vigorously defend” itself after Wolfspeed filed a patent-infringement complaint in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delawareglobenewswire. The Torrance, California-based chip company called the allegations “baseless,” said it expects to prevail, and disclosed the response in a same-day Form 8-K signed by Chief Executive Chris Allexandreglobenewswire +1.

The dispute lands in one of the faster-growing corners of power electronics. Navitas sells gallium nitride and silicon carbide devices used to move electricity more efficiently in AI data centers, grid infrastructure, performance computing and industrial electrificationstocktitan +1. Wolfspeed, a longtime silicon carbide specialist, says the case is about protecting technology built through decades of research and developmentyahoo +1.

Core product families are in the complaint

Wolfspeed’s complaint accuses a broad range of Navitas products of infringing several patents, including U.S. Patent Nos. 8,169,005, 10,998,418, 10,886,396, 10,749,443 and 11,888,392yahoo +1. The named products include Navitas’s GaNFast, GaNSlim and GaNSafe gallium nitride field-effect transistors, plus GeneSiC MOSFETs and SiCPAK power modulesyahoo +1.

That scope matters because those are not peripheral lines. Navitas describes GaNFast and GeneSiC as central technologies in its wide-bandgap portfolio, with more than 300 issued or pending patents and products aimed at higher-density, higher-efficiency power conversionglobenewswire. Compound Semiconductor reported that Wolfspeed filed the suit in Delaware and quoted CEO Robert Feurle saying protection of the company’s patent portfolio is “a strategic priority” for shareholderscompoundsemiconductor.

Investors react while both sides defend their IP

Navitas shares fell 7% Wednesday morning after the filing, according to Yahoo Finance, as investors weighed the possibility of litigation costs, settlements or product restrictionsyahoo. The company’s public statement did not address possible financial exposure and said Navitas does not plan to comment further while the case is pendingglobenewswire +1.

For Wolfspeed, the lawsuit is an assertion that competitors should respect the intellectual property behind next-generation silicon carbide and gallium nitride devicescompoundsemiconductor. For Navitas, the response frames the case as an attempt to gain leverage outside normal competition, while emphasizing that its products come from independent innovation and its own global patent portfoliostocktitan +1. The next signal for investors will be whether the Delaware case stays a damages fight or moves toward requests that could disrupt sales of the accused product families.