Spansion Inc. wants to block U.S. sales of iPods, BlackBerry gadgets and other devices because memory chips made by Samsung and used in those products allegedly violate Spansion patents . The world's No. 3 maker of flash memory chips by revenue, sued South Korea's Samsung on Monday. Spansion claims more than "100 million mp3 players, cell phones, digital cameras and other consumer electronic devices" are made with Samsung flash memory chips that violate Spansion patents.

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

Spansion filed complaints with the International Trade Commission and U.S. District Court in Delaware. The company is asking for damages and for the court to ban sales in the U.S. of products with the affected Samsung chips.