Shares of Netlist fell after the company lost its appeal in a patent case against Micron Technology.

The stock tumbled 20%, to $5.32, on Wednesday. Despite the loss, shares have more than quintupled in value since the beginning of the year.

A U.S. appeals court said in a decision filed on Wednesday that it considered Netlist's arguments but didn't find them to be persuasive. As a result, the court affirmed an earlier decision, which stated that Micron hadn't infringed upon one of Netlist's patents.

The patent in question was directed to computer memory systems, and more specifically to "improving the performance and the memory capacity of … memory boards that include dual in-line memory modules," court documents show.

Netlist earlier this year launched patent infringement proceedings against Micron and other technology companies at the U.S. International Trade Commission, seeking orders that could block allegedly infringing memory products from entering the country.