Case against Chi Mei dismissed
A patent infringement case brought against Chi Mei Optoelectronics Corp (奇美電子) by Frances atomic energy agency, the Commissariat a l'Energie Atomique (CEA), has been dismissed by the courts, Chi Mei's public relations manager Loreta Chen (陳靜燕) said in an e-mail statement yesterday.
The lawsuit, filed in US federal court in Delaware on May 19, alleged that Chi Mei infringed on two CEA patents in its flat-screen devices. CEA also sued South Korea's Samsung and Dell, Viewsonic and Sun Microsystems of the US in the same lawsuit.
On Monday, the court dismissed the case against Chi Mei because it held that it had no personal jurisdiction over the company, the statement said.
Fund appointment announced
Vice Minister of Finance Yang Tze-kaing (楊子江) was tapped yesterday to be secretary-general of the Cabinet's Development Fund, Min-ister of Finance Lin Chuan (林全) told a press conference yesterday.
"The new appointment will take effect from Oct 1," Lin said.
Yang will replace another vice minister, Susan Chang (張秀蓮).
A replacement has yet to be found for Chen Chang-fen (陳嫦芬), a consultant to the fund, who is leaving her post.
Far EasTone still interested
Far EasTone Telecommunications Co (遠傳電信) said it's still interested in buying KG Telecommunications Co (和信電訊) to create the nation's second-biggest mobile-phone network after a NT$30 billion (US$890 million) bid failed earlier.
"You can logically see the size of the Taiwan market sustaining two, three operators" compared with six now, Far EasTone president Jan Nilsson said in Singapore.
A preliminary agreement to buy KG Telecom lapsed last month after Far EasTone was unable to deliver an extension proposal by KG Telecom's deadline.
Far EasTone also noted that the discussions are sensitive because they're dealing with the companies' biggest shareholders, which are among the nation's richest families.
Far EasTone is 50 percent-owned by Far Eastern Group (遠東集團), majority-owned by the Hsu family, while the Koo family controls KG Telecom.
China investment declines
Taiwanese companies' investment in China halved last month after fear of catching SARS deterred businessmen from traveling during the second quarter.
Taiwanese investment in China dropped 54 percent from a year earlier to US$195.5 million, the Investment Commission said.
In the first eight months of the year, Taiwanese companies invested US$2.74 billion, 16 percent more than a year earlier.
During the January-August period, foreign investment in Taiwan fell 9.2 percent to US$1.86 billion, the commission said.
Motorola upping Compal orders
Motorola Inc will order more than 10 million cellphones from Compal Electronics Inc (仁寶電腦) at a price of US$30 each and sell them in Russia, China and India, a Chinese-language newspaper said, without saying where it got the information.
Motorola decided to use black-and-white instead of color screens in the phones to keep the cost of the handsets affordable to first-time users in the emerging markets, the report said.
Motorola, which aims to start selling the handsets in the second quarter next year, plans to place orders for five more models with Taiwanese makers, including Compal and BenQ Corp (明基電通), the report said.
NT dollar gains ground
The New Taiwan dollar yesterday traded higher against its US counterpart, rising NT$0.004 to close at NT$33.791 on the Taiwan foreign exchange market. Turnover was US$347 million.
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