Samsung, Toshiba join SanDisk in US antitrust probe
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NAND flash market goes under the scope The US Justice Department is busy handing out more RSVPs to NAND flash memory makers, cordially inviting them to a new market-wide price fixing investigation.â¦
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SanDisk&#160;is suing 25 companies, including South Korean giant LG Electronics for allegedly infringing patents used in removable flash storage products including MP3 players and USB flash drives.
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CARLSBAD, Calif., March 9  /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Patriot Scientific Corporation  (BULLETIN BOARD: PTSC)  confirmed today that SanDisk, the world's largest supplier of flash storage card products, has purchased a Moore Microprocessor Patent(TM) (MMP) Portfolio license.
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Samsung filed a complaint with American authorities over alleged unfair trade practices by Japanese rival Sharp, fueling an intensifying legal battle over flat panel technology.
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Competition authorities in Asia, the European Union and the United States have launched an investigation into manufacturers of flat-screen televisions and computer monitors, who are suspected of having reached an illegal pricing agreement, officials said.
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Toshiba on Tuesday underlined the growing determination of Japanese companies to protect their intellectual property rights, announcing legal action in Japan and the US against Hynix of South Korea for alleged infringement of its memory chip patents.
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Toshiba has agreed to pay $288 million to settle lawsuits between it and memory chipmaker Lexar Media, which was acquired by Micron Technology in June. Since 2002, Lexar has been engaged in a court battle with Toshiba regarding patent infringement of flash memory technology.
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(InfoWorld) - An investigation into possible anticompetitive behavior in the flat-panel display market widened Tuesday, with four more big vendors saying they had been contacted by investigators. Samsung ElectronicsÂ said it had been served with subpoenas by regulators in the U.S., South Korea, and Japan, while Sharp and Taiwan's AU Optronics were contacted by the Japan Fair Trade Commission and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), they said. Taiwan's Chi Mei Optoelectronics said a subsidiary in the U.S. was also contacted by the DOJ. The investigation came to light Monday when LG.Philips LCD Co.Â revealed that it had been subpoenaedÂ by regulators in the U.S., South Korea, and Japan. The probe centers on TFT (thin-film transistor) LCDs, according to Samsung. They are used in a wide range of electronics products including flat-panel televisions and computer monitors, laptop computers, cell phones, and digital music players. The three companies being investigated are among the largest manufacturers of such displays. The investigation comes on the heels of anticompetition probes in the DRAM (dynamic RAM) andÂ SRAM (static RAM) markets. The DRAM investigationÂ focussed on price-fixing, which is when vendors cooperate to set prices artificially. Sharp Spokeswoman Miyuki Nakayama said the company was surprised to have received the summons. Sharp has a policy of "fair and ethical management," she said. Cho Sung In, a spokeswoman for Samsung in Seoul, said: "Samsung Electronics is strongly committed to fair competition and ethical practices and forbids anti-competitive behavior." Among other LCD manufacturers, Sony said its joint-venture with Samsung, S-LCD, had not been contacted by the investigators. Shares in LG.Philips dropped 4 percent Tuesday, while Samsung's closed down two-thirds of a percent. The general market, as measured by the Kospi index, fell 1 percent. Sharp waited until after the market had closed to announce it had been contacted. Its shares rose 2 percent Tuesday. In the DRAM investigation, Market leaders Samsung andÂ Hynix Semiconductor pled guiltyÂ in 2005 to price-fixing and receivedÂ fines of $300 millionÂ and $185 million, respectively. Japan'sÂ Elpida Memory had to pay $84 millionÂ and Germany'sÂ Infineon Technologies paid a $160 million fine. In October several manufacturers of SRAM chips said they had been subpoenaed by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) although they did not disclose the nature of the DOJ's requests. The companies were Cypress Semiconductor and the U.S. units of Mitsubishi Electric, Samsung Electronics, Sony, and Toshiba. Â ADVERTISEMENTNEW IT SERVICES FROM IBM: EASIER TO BUY AND IMPLEMENTDiscover a simpler, more cost-effective way to get the solutions your company needs to grow more flexible and efficient.
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In the latest squabble over patents between Japanese and South Korean electronics giants, Toshiba has sued Hynix Semiconductor&#39;s Japan and US units, alleging patent infringement in flash-memory
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TOKYO Toshiba, Japan&#39;s second-largest chip maker, said Tuesday that it had filed lawsuits in the United States and Japan against Hynix Semiconductor for patent violations on memory chips used in computers and other consumer electronics.
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Advanced Micro Devices said it had received a subpoena regarding an investigation into possible antitrust violations in the graphics processor and card business.
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TOKYO: Japan&#39;s Toshiba said on Tuesday it had filed suit against South Korea&#39;s Hynix Semiconductor in the United States and Japan, claiming infringement of patents related to memory chips.
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TOKYO : Japanese electronics giant Toshiba said it was taking legal action against major South Korean microchip maker Hynix in Tokyo and Texas for alleged infringement of Toshiba&#39;s semiconductor memory patents.
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SanDisk&#160;is suing 25 companies, including South Korean giant LG Electronics for allegedly infringing patents used in removable flash storage products including MP3 players and USB flash drives.The Milpitas, California, chip maker has also filed a complaint with the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC), asking to have defendants in the court cases barred from importing products into the U.S.The company filed two lawsuits in the U.S. District Court in the Western District of Wisconsin, one alleging the infringement of five patents in the ITC complaint, and another one including two additional patents not involved in the ITC action.The court and ITC complaints could affect the prices and availability of products made by companies targeted in the suit if SanDisk wins and the companies are barred from importing products into the U.S.The suit also covers makers of CompactFlash cards, multimedia cards, and other removable flash storage products used in digital cameras, mobile phones, and other gadgets, and includes companies from around the world, such as Japan&#39;s Buffalo, Acer affiliate Apacer Technology&#160;of Taiwan, and Kingston Technology&#160;of California.
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(InfoWorld) - Toshiba and Micron TechnologyÂ have settled a number of outstanding lawsuits regarding alleged patent infringement and theft of trade secrets related to computer memory chips. Under terms of an agreement announced Friday, Toshiba will purchase some Micron patents related to semiconductor technology and license patents previously owned by Lexar Media, which wasÂ acquired by MicronÂ earlier this year. Toshiba will pay $288 million to Micron in return for the patents and licenses, Toshiba said. The amount is substantially less than the $465 million inÂ compensation awarded to LexarÂ by a California court in 2005. The payment has been on hold since late last year after Toshiba succeeded in having the damages reconsidered andÂ filed an appealÂ seeking to overturn the original guilty verdict. Earlier this year Lexar raised the stakes by asking the U.S. International Trade Commission toÂ bar the importÂ of some of Toshiba's NAND flash-memory chips and products containing them. The ITC action will now be dismissed, along with others at the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California and the California Court of Appeals, Toshiba said. Toshiba became business partners with Lexar when it invested $3 million in the company in 1997 and acquired a seat on its board of directors. According to Lexar's original complaint, Toshiba sat on the board for two and a half years and gained access to the company's product plans and technology, while at the same time working with Lexar rival SanDisk. Â
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TWO of the worldâs biggest electronics companies have hammered out a deal that should help keep them out of the courtroom. Japanese electronics icon Sony and South Korean rival Samsung, the worldâs leading
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PNY Technologies and SanDisk on Thursday settled a patent dispute that will allow PNY to continue distribution of flash storage products.As part of the settlement, PNY will license technology from SanDisk and pay royalties to distribute flash-memory products including USB (Universal Serial Bus) drives and CompactFlash cards. Other terms of the agreement were not released.SanDisk originally sought legal action against multiple flash storage vendors, including PNY Technologies, as part of three patent-infringement suits filed in the U.S. District Court in the Western District of Wisconsin and the U.S. International Trade Commission. Alleging the vendors of violating multiple patents, SanDisk sought damages and an order from the ITC banning import of flash-memory products into the U.S.The settlement with PNY will not disrupt patent claims pending against other vendors, SanDisk said in a statement.SanDisk and PNY Technologies representatives did not respond to requests for comment.