Toshiba and SK Hynix have settled all outstanding claims between the companies, including a lawsuit brought by Toshiba against SK Hynix concerning trade secrets. The pair is also looking to expand their existing relationship, and will work together to jointly develop nanoiimprint lithography (NIL).

Toshiba said it decided to withdraw the lawsuit, which was filed with the Tokyo District Court in March 2014, in return for a settlement fee from SK Hynix.

"Toshiba will continue to respond resolutely to unfair competition, in order to maintain the advanced technical competence that is the source of its competitive strength," the Japan-based firm noted in a December 19 statement.

In a separate statement, SK Hynix disclosed the company would make a settlement of US$278 million. "SK Hynix will further focus on its technology competitiveness by putting legal dispute behind and expanding its collaboration with Toshiba," the Korea-based firm said.

In addition, Toshiba and SK Hynix have agreed to extend their patent cross licensing and DRAM supply agreements, and to collaboration in developing NIL. NIL is identified as a strong candidate for the next-generation lithography technology.

Toshiba and SK Hynix have already partnered to develop magnetoresistive random-access memory (MRAM), a next-generation memory solution that uses magnetic properties to store data.