LG.Philips subpoenaed in LCD competition probe
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(InfoWorld) - First it was chips, now it's LCDs (liquid crystal displays). Authorities around the globe are investigating possible anticompetitive conduct in the LCD industry, according to activity at LG.Philips LCD Co.Â offices. On Friday, officials from the Korean Fair Trade Commission visited LG.Philips' offices in Seoul as part of an investigation into possible anticompetitive behavior, LG.Philips said on Monday. In addition, the Japanese Fair Trade Commission issued a notice to LG.Philips' offices in Tokyo. and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) issued a subpoena to LG.Philips' offices in San Jose, California, the company said. The company said it would cooperate with the investigation. It was not immediately known Monday if other LCD companies had also been targeted. Authorities around the globe are already investigating other chip markets for possible anticompetitive behavior, including price fixing, and some companies have been fined. This was the first indication of an investigation into the LCD market. The DOJ recentlyÂ subpoenaed Advanced Micro DevicesÂ as part of an investigation into the graphics processor market. It has fined companies forÂ price-fixing in the DRAM market, and is also currently investigating similar issues in the SRAM (Static RAM) sector. LG.Philips, a joint venture of LG Electronics and Philips Electronics, is one of the largest makers of LCD screens. It competes with Samsung Electronics and Sony, among others.
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European and U.S. regulators said Tuesday they have been investigating a possible cartel involving makers of liquid crystal display monitors.
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Genentech Inc., the world&#39;s second- biggest biotechnology company, received a subpoena from the US Attorney&#39;s office in Philadelphia as part of a criminal and civil investigation into marketing of its top-selling drug, Rituxan.
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Ongoing antitrust investigation, possibly regarding price fixing, extends to Advanced Micro Devices.
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European officials investigating the chip maker say they have a watertight argument for pursuing antitrust charges.
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Genentech said late yesterday that it received a subpoena regarding the marketing of its cancer drug, Rituxan, which was developed by San Diego&#39;s former Idec Pharmaceuticals.
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The U.S. International Trade Commission said it agreed to Samsungâs request to investigate Sharp for allegedly infringing liquid crystal display patents.
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LG.Philips LCD is changing its name to LG Display, after Philips Electronics reduced its stake in the company.
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Samsung, Micron Technology and Hynix Semiconductor have acknowledged that they have received subpoenas related to the investigation.
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InfoWorld - LG Electronics&#160;has filed a lawsuit against the world&#39;s largest contract manufacturer of laptop PCs over the infringement of four patents related to DVD (digital video disc) technology, the company said Wednesday.
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Shares in LG.Philips LCD Co Ltd  (034220.KS) surged on Friday on market talk Japan's Matsushita  Electric Industrial was buying a stake in the South Korean flat  screen maker, but both firms poured cold water on the talk.
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The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) has voted to launch an investigation into patent infringement claims against Nokia, whichÂ filed its own complaintÂ with the commission in August.
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The New York state attorney general's office served a wide-ranging subpoena on Intel today as part of an antitrust investigation of the chip maker.
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Thomson Financial, a unit of financial information provider Thomson Corp., said it received a subpoena from the US Securities and Exchange Commission for documents related to its capital markets intelligence business.
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The acquisition by Microsoft and Time Warner of a company with a significant portfolio of patents covering digital rights management technologies generates scrutiny by European antitrust regulators. The main focus of the investigation: Microsoft. By Wendy M. Grossman.
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LG Philips is developing what the company claims is the world&#39;s largest organic light-emitting diode display. The company, which manufactures thin-film-transistor (TFT) LCD screens in South Korea, unveiled
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(InfoWorld) - The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has subpoenaed Advanced Micro DevicesÂ as part of an antitrust investigation into the market for graphics processors and graphics cards, AMD said Thursday. AMD recently entered the graphics chip business with itsÂ acquisition of ATI Technologies, which was finalized last month. The DOJ has not made any allegations against AMD or ATI, and AMD intends to cooperate with the investigation, it said. While the DOJ hasn't said specifically what it is investigating, one industry analyst speculated that the case could be about price fixing. The DOJ has alreadyÂ charged a number of chip companiesÂ in the DRAMÂ memory chip market for price fixing, and isÂ investigating severalÂ in the SRAM (Static RAM) chip market. "If the DOJ wanted to, it could just go down every line in the semiconductor industry and find the same issue," said Gartner analyst Richard Gordon. That's because there are a relatively few number of suppliers in the chip industry and an open flow of communication between competitors and customers, who may not define price fixing the same way the DOJ does, he said. The investigations are unlikely to benefit end users, according to Gordon. Historically, prices in the chip industry have gone up and down based on supply and demand and he doubts that such investigations will result in lower pricing. A spokeswoman for AMD in Europe, Hollis Krym, said she did not know if the investigation has a broad scope and includes other graphics chip companies or if it is in the context of the ATI acquisition. U.S. antitrust authorities have already approved AMD's merger with ATI. In the DRAM market, the DOJ has charged Samsung Electronics, Hynix Semiconductor America, Elpida Memory, and Infineon TechnologiesÂ with price fixing and sentenced the companies to pay multi-million dollar fines. Sony, Cypress Semiconductor, and the U.S. arms of Mitsubishi Electric, Samsung Electronics, and Toshiba have all been asked to turn over information to the DOJ for an investigation into SRAM price fixing.