Chinese chip-equipment maker faces U.S. lawsuit
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A legal battle is shaping up in California involving a Chinese startup that makes equipment used to produce semiconductors.
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3M Co.  has filed suits against  Sony Corp. (6758.T), Lenovo Group Ltd. (0992.HK) and others,  claiming infringement of lithium-ion battery-related patents,  the diversified U.S. manufacturer said in a statement on its  Web site.
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Japanese electronics giant Toshiba said it is taking legal action against major South Korean microchip maker Hynix in Tokyo and Texas for alleged infringement of Toshiba's semiconductor memory patents.
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3M filed suit this week in Minneapolis, Minn. against computer makers Sony and Lenovo, along with a handful of other firms, for allegedly infringing on its patents related to rechargeable lithium-ion batteries. The company also asked that imports of the batteries be blocked.
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Japan's Toshiba Corp. filed patent infringement lawsuits in Japanese and U.S. courts on Monday against South Korea's Hynix Semiconductor Inc., it said Tuesday.
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A former Chinese national is facing U.S. federal charges of stealing trade secrets from a Silicon Valley company and selling them to foreign governments.
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By Christopher Boyce, St. Louis Post-Dispatch  Feb. 3--MEMC Electronic Materials is defending itself in lawsuits filed  by two companies, each alleging that the St. Peters-based silicon wafer  producer breached supply contracts.
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The U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) has launched four investigations involving the import of computers or electronic device components, including one based on a complaint that several companies are violating patents on DRAM chips.The USITC also voted to launch an investigation, based on a complaint by IBM, into the import of motherboards, graphics cards, notebook computers, server computers, bare-bones computers, and routers by Asustek Computer of Taiwan and Asus Computer International of Fremont, Calif.In the DRAM case, Tessera of San Jose, Calif., filed a complaint on Dec. 7 alleging that 18 companies violated its patents for semiconductor chips with a minimized chip package size. Acer and Kingston Technology are among the companies named in Tessera&#39;s complaint.The commission on Friday also announced it has initiated so-called 337 investigations into the import of silicon microphone packages used in mobile phones and semiconductor lasers used in disc drives.In the Tessera complaint, the company accused competitors of violating four semiconductor patents. The company has filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, as well as the USITC complaint. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has granted reexamination requests on two of those patents.Representatives of Acer and Kingston didn&#39;t immediately respond to a request for comments on the USITC investigation.IBM filed a complaint on Dec. 5, asking the USITC to bar Asustek and North American subsidiary Asus Computer International from importing equipment using PC power supplies, cooling fans, and clustering technologies into the United States. IBM accused Asustek of infringing three patents related to those technologies.IBM attempted to reach a licensing agreement with Asustek after a licensing deal expired in December 2004, an IBM spokesman said in December. An Asus spokeswoman didn&#39;t immediately respond to a request for comments.The semiconductor laser complaint covers lasers used in high-definition disc drives. The investigation is based on a complaint filed by Seoul Semiconductor of Korea on Dec. 4, alleging that Nichhia of Japan has violated its patent.In the silicon microphone case, the patented technology covers microphones in several devices, including mobile phones. The complaint, filed by Knowles Electronics of Itasca, Ill., on Dec. 6, alleges that Mems Technology Berhad of Malaysia has violated its patents.The cases will be referred to an administrative law judge, who will schedule and hold an evidentiary hearing. The judge will make an initial determination as to whether there is a violation of Section 337 of the U.S. Tariff Act of 1930. That initial determination is subject to review by the USITC.Within 45 days, the commission will set a target date for completing the investigations.
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Lenovo Group, the world's third- largest personal computer maker, sued rival Clevo Computer, claiming the Taiwanese company infringed on two patents for PC functions and owed millions of dollars in licensing royalties.  The lawsuit was filed March 2 in federal court in New York.
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The US Department of Justice looks into competitive practices among flash memory chipmakers.
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TechWeb - IBM claims the Taiwan-based computer and components manufacturer infringes on three of its patents.
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A small Chinese high-tech firm is suing  Microsoft Corp because it says the software giant has stolen  its creation that allows Internet users to type Chinese  characters, but Microsoft countered the claim on Friday.
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In documents filed Friday with the U.S. District Court for the District of Utah, IBM sought the dismissal of a major component of the lawsuit filed against it last year by The SCO Group.
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Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp., a leading Chinese computer chip maker, plans to begin supplying chips using more advanced technology to major clients such as Texas Instruments Inc. beginning next year, the companies said Friday.
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Last week OPTi announced a patent infringement lawsuit against a bevy of chip companies. At issue are two patents for "Compact ISA-Bus" technology. Check out this and other original content from CNET's Blog network.
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Intel Corp., the world's largest semiconductor company, was charged with violating South Korean antitrust laws, the company and regulators said Tuesday.
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Thirty-four U.S. states will sue  seven computer memory chip makers on Friday, including Micron  Technology  and Infineon Technologies (IFXGn.DE), over  charges they conspired to rig the U.S. market to keep prices  artificially high.