martzweb
06-03-2002, 04:24 AM
The U.S. International Trade Commission is investigating Samsung Electronics for allegedly infringing on U.S. semiconductor patents held by Toshiba, South Korea's trade agency said Friday.
The investigation into the world's largest memory chipmaker stems from an April 22 complaint by Toshiba, Japan's second-largest chipmaker, the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) said in a statement.
The products under investigation are Samsung's DRAM (dynamic random access memory) chips, alpha microprocessors, chip packages, graphic memory chips and flash memory chips, KOTRA said.
A Toshiba representative said the suit was filed after the expiration of a cross-license agreement with Samsung and involved about 10 patents.
The representative declined to give further details on the technologies involved, adding that talks on renewing the licensing agreement were continuing.
Samsung said earlier Friday that it was also seeking to resolve the dispute through talks.
"We want to put an amicable end to this issue through dialogue with Toshiba," a Samsung representative said. "If that is not possible, we are considering our own measures," the representative said, including a possible legal response.
Japan's chipmakers were hit hard by the IT slump of the past year, posting huge operating losses in their semiconductor divisions and watching their global competitiveness steadily erode thanks to aggressive foreign rivals such as Samsung.
Last year, Toshiba announced it would stop producing standard DRAM chips, used for computer memory, and focus on NAND flash memory, a potentially high-growth product used in digital cameras and other consumer electronics.
Faced with flagging competitiveness in manufacturing, big Japanese chipmakers like Toshiba are paring their production capacity and aiming to milk more value from their extensive patent portfolios.
Source : Reuters
The investigation into the world's largest memory chipmaker stems from an April 22 complaint by Toshiba, Japan's second-largest chipmaker, the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) said in a statement.
The products under investigation are Samsung's DRAM (dynamic random access memory) chips, alpha microprocessors, chip packages, graphic memory chips and flash memory chips, KOTRA said.
A Toshiba representative said the suit was filed after the expiration of a cross-license agreement with Samsung and involved about 10 patents.
The representative declined to give further details on the technologies involved, adding that talks on renewing the licensing agreement were continuing.
Samsung said earlier Friday that it was also seeking to resolve the dispute through talks.
"We want to put an amicable end to this issue through dialogue with Toshiba," a Samsung representative said. "If that is not possible, we are considering our own measures," the representative said, including a possible legal response.
Japan's chipmakers were hit hard by the IT slump of the past year, posting huge operating losses in their semiconductor divisions and watching their global competitiveness steadily erode thanks to aggressive foreign rivals such as Samsung.
Last year, Toshiba announced it would stop producing standard DRAM chips, used for computer memory, and focus on NAND flash memory, a potentially high-growth product used in digital cameras and other consumer electronics.
Faced with flagging competitiveness in manufacturing, big Japanese chipmakers like Toshiba are paring their production capacity and aiming to milk more value from their extensive patent portfolios.
Source : Reuters