Spansion alleges patent violation

Spansion Inc. wants to block U.S. sales of iPods, BlackBerrys and other devices because memory chips made by Samsung Electronics Co. in those products allegedly violate Spansion patents.

Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Spansion, the world’s No. 3 maker of flash memory chips by revenue, sued South Korea’s Samsung on Monday. Spansion claims that more than “100 million MP3 players, cellphones, digital cameras and other consumer electronic devices” are made with Samsung flash memory chips that violate Spansion patents.

Spansion filed complaints with the International Trade Commission and U.S. District Court in Delaware. It is asking for damages and for a sales ban in the U.S. of products with the disputed Samsung chips.

Spansion claims Samsung has sold $30 billion worth of products over the last five years that contain patented Spansion technologies.

Samsung did not return messages seeking comment.