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Two firms brush off Philips' claim of court victory

"As the court is still reviewing Philip's appeal and will not come up any final ruling before the third quarter, Gigastorage is still allowed to export its products to the US market."

Carl Lee, a spokesman for Gigastorage Corp

Officials of Gigastorage Corp (國碩科技) and Princo Corp (巨擘科技), two makers of recordable compact discs, said yesterday that patent lawsuits with Amsterdam-based Philips Electronics will not have immediate or severe impact on their bottom lines.

The remarks came after Philips Electronics claimed that it has won patent infringement suits against Gigastorage and Princo, overturning the US International Trade Commission's (ITC) rulings in favor of the two Taiwanese firms in 2003 and last year.

"As the court is still reviewing Philip's appeal and will not come up any final ruling before the third quarter, Gigastorage is still allowed to export its products to the US market," Gigastorage spokesman Carl Lee (李朝欽) said in a phone interview with the Taipei Times.

PHILIPS' CLAIM

In a statement released on Tuesday, Philips said judges for the Southern District of New York ruled that Princo had infringed upon each of the six patents listed in the lawsuit and granted an injunction forbidding further US sales of the CD-R and CD-RW discs made by the company.

"We think the case will only have minimal influence on Gigastorage," Lee said.

He said that the company is allowed to export its products to the US if it posts a counter bond.

However, the amount of the bond would be very small, he said.

The US market only accounted for 5 percent of Gigastorage's total shipments, as it has started to diversify its export destinations away from the US, Lee said.

Nevertheless, Philip's announcement weighed down Gigastorage shares yesterday.

SHARES AFFECTED

The price of Gigastoreage stock has fallen 10.5 percent since the beginning of the month on the Taiwan Stock Exchange. It closed yesterday at NT$9.30.

Princo also released a statement dismissing the Philips' announcement, saying the US case is still under review and Philips' remarks will not immediately impact its bottom line as no final judgment is expected before this summer.

Princo said it expects the US district court to maintain unchanged the ICT's rulings as no precedent has been set in the past two years indicating that the court would overturn those rulings.

Even if the judges uphold Philip's appeal, Princo would only see small losses as the US market only accounts for 5 percent to 6 percent of its shipment, according to the company's statement.
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