A US trade judge ruled that a Broadcom Corp unit violated Intel Corp patents by importing devices from Taiwan containing switches and transceivers used in computer networking systems, Intel said.
The ruling will be reviewed by the US International Trade Commission, a trade agency that has the power to accept or reject the decision. If the commission accepts the decision, it can order the exclusion of the products from the US and ban the sale of ones already in the country.
Chuck Mulloy, a spokesman for Intel, the biggest chipmaker, said he expects the ruling to lead to a ban on the import of the products by Altima Communications Inc, the Broadcom unit.
"A good many products from Altima will be blocked from import into US," Mulloy said.
Yet Tom Jarvis, an attorney who defended Altima before the ITC judge, said the ruling was so narrow it will have little effect on the company, which was purchased last year by California-based Broadcom, the largest maker of cable-modem chips.
"It will not change Altima's finances or its product lines, and it will not have a material impact on Altima's customers," Jarvis said.
Steve Anzalone, another Altima lawyer, said the product line found to violate Intel's patents has been superseded by newer technology.
The products violating the patents are "managed repeaters, which are a small market and a diminishing market," he said.
"It's an earlier-generation technology," he said. "The claims that were found to be in violation do not cover any of Altima's new products," Anzalone said.
Intel filed the case with the ITC under provisions of Section 337 of US trade law.
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