The US International Trade Commission has begun investigating whether Samsung Electronics infringes US patents on semiconductors. US pressures are spreading to semiconductors, which are exports.

According to the ITC on November 5, the ITC launched a `Customs Act 337` survey on certain wafer level packaging (WLP) semiconductor devices and components and their semiconductors on March 31.

Article 337 of the U.S. Customs Act is known to give more damages to anti-dumping than prohibiting the importation of such products as a sanction regulating unfair trade practices related to infringement of patents, trademarks and copyrights. The survey follows Tessera, a US semiconductor packaging system company.

Tessera claimed that Samsung infringed two US patents related to WLP technology (Patent Nos. 6,954,001 and 6,784,557). Unlike the conventional method of cutting and packaging wafers into individual chip units, WLP simplifies packaging and produces semiconductor finished products at the wafer stage, which reduces the volume of finished products.

Tessera called on ITC to ban imports and sales of smart phones, tablets, laptops, notebooks, etc., which are equipped with semiconductors, as well as Samsung Semiconductor products that infringe on its patents. Tessera specified the power semiconductor (PMIC) chip on the Samsung Galaxy S8 and Note 8 as a patent infringement case.

TESERA filed a complaint with the ITC, three federal district courts and some international tribunals on September 28, claiming that Samsung Electronics and some of its subsidiaries have infringed 24 patents related to semiconductor processing, bonding, packaging and imaging technologies. There is one.

The ITC has yet to make any judgments about the issue of the case, he said. The ITC will allocate an administrative law judge to handle the case, and schedule the investigation within 45 days of the investigation.

Meanwhile, the ITC has ruled that Samsung Electronics` products infringe on Apple`s patents in 2013. There is a precedent that prohibits imports and sales of Samsung Electronics products such as Galaxy S, Galaxy S2, Galaxy Nexus and Galaxy Tab in the US. Semiconductor maker netlist also asked the ITC to investigate on October 31, claiming that SK Hynix`s memory module product infringed Netlist`s US patents (Patent Nos. 9,606,907 and 9,535,623). The ITC has not yet decided whether to initiate the investigation.


By Park Jung Il comja77@


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