Toshiba Corp’s patent-infringement claims against Taiwanese laptop maker Wistron Corp (緯創) will be investigated by a US trade agency to determine if imports of the computers should be banned.
Toshiba, which says it sold the world’s first notebook computer in 1985, filed the complaint with the US International Trade Commission (ITC) in Washington on Jan. 19, claiming Wistron is infringing two patents.
The agency issued a notice yesterday that it would look into the claims.
One patent is for an easier way to make the touchpad of an electronic device and the other is for a way of saving files when power is turned off and protecting saved contents from unauthorized use.
The complaint singles out the Acer Aspire 4810T notebook computer made by Wistron for Acer Inc (宏碁).
In a statement last month, Hsinchu-based Wistron said it would “vigorously contest Toshiba’s claims” and said the impact of any loss would be limited because the complaint targets an “extremely small” proportion of its business.
Toshiba is the fourth-biggest seller of personal computers in the US, behind Hewlett-Packard Co, Dell Inc and Acer, Framingham, Massachusetts-based researcher IDC said.
Wistron is the world’s third-biggest contract maker of laptop computers.
Tokyo-based Toshiba also filed a lawsuit against Wistron over the same patents in California.
That case is likely to be put on hold until the ITC investigation is completed.
In its own suit challenging the Toshiba patents, Wistron said Toshiba has “repeatedly demanded that Wistron enter into a royalty-bearing license agreement” since 2006.
The two companies have met several times and Wistron said it doesn’t believe it infringes the patents, or that the patents are invalid.
It seeks a court ruling on “the respective rights and duties of the parties” in the dispute.
The ITC could finish its investigation in about 15 months.
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