Nanya insists it has not infringed Fujitsu's patents

Nanya Technology Co (南亞科技), the nation's second-largest maker of computer memory chips, yesterday insisted that it had not infringed Fujitsu Ltd's patents, saying it held intellectual property rights in high regard.

Nanya's response came a day after the Japanese computer service company's claim on Thursday that it had won a semiconductor patent-infringement lawsuit against the Taiwanese firm.

rights protection

In a filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange yesterday, Nanya said it had not received notice of the verdict from the Tokyo District Court, but reserved the right to seek legal action to protect its rights.

"After receiving the verdict, [we] will consider whether to file an appeal," Nanya spokesman Pai Pei-lin (白培霖) said in the filing.

The company does not expect the Japanese court's ruling to have any significant impact on its operations, the filing said.

The Taoyuan-based company posted losses of NT$2.81 billion (US$85.2 million) in the second quarter of the year. For the first six months of the year, it still reported a profit of NT$482 million, or NT$0.12 per share.

Shares of Nanya rose NT$0.5 or 2.1 percent to close at NT$24.3 on the Taiwan Stock Exchange yesterday, compared with a 2.4 percent rise in the benchmark TAIEX. The company's stock has declined 8.7 percent since the beginning of the year.

In Japan, Fujitsu shares rose 6.3 percent to ?791 (US$6.91) on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, outperforming the NIKKEI's 2.6 percent advance.

Despite the litigation defeat in Japan, Nanya said it was confident it could win a separate lawsuit against Fujitsu in the US.

countersuit

The Taiwanese company filed a complaint against Fujitsu in September last year in the US District Court in Guam, accusing the Japanese company of infringing on its patents. In response, Fujitsu filed counter-lawsuits against Nanya last October in San Jose, California, as well as in Tokyo.

In yesterday's filing, Pai said the US Patent and Trademark Office had earlier approved Nanya's applications to re-examine three of five patent infringement complaints Fujitsu lodged against Nanya.

The Taiwanese maker said it expected the US office would grant it permission soon to re-examine the remaining two complaints.

"[We believe] this will result in more uncertainties about the effectiveness and feasibility of Fujitsu's patents," he said in the filing.