A multibillion-dollar patent fight has broken out over a technology that could transform the future of chipmaking, pitting the State University of New York against a company that is set to be owned by a Japanese government-backed fund.The university’s research foundation alleges that Inpria, a US subsidiary of Japan’s JSR, has been selling chip materials products that are based on technology invented by one of its professors, according to a filing made last week. It could seek damages of up to $4.3bn for alleged infringement of its intellectual property.

The legal battle has erupted as JSR is seeking a buyout by a state-backed fund in a controversial deal that has raised questions about whether Japan is entering a new era of state interventionism to protect technologies of strategic importance. 

JSR is a leading provider of photoresists — specialist chemicals used for printing circuit designs on chip wafers — to the world’s largest chipmakers, including Samsung Electronics, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company and Intel.