Taiwanese exporters are facing rising threats from patent infringement accusations in the US, which could have an adverse impact on exports to the US market, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said.
Since last month, firms operating in the US market have filed three complaints with the US International Trade Commission, accusing Taiwanese exporters of infringing on their patents and demanding that the commission stop the sale of the products in the US market.
The latest complaint revealed by the commission on Monday last week showed that a consortium led by California-based Tessera Technologies Inc accused Taiwan-based PC vendor Asustek Computer Inc (華碩) and Taiwanese smartphone brand HTC Corp (宏達電) of stealing technology related to certain semiconductor devices and semiconductor device packages.
In addition to Asustek and HTC, several other foreign companies, such as Broadcom Corp and Avago Technologies Inc, were named in the complaint.
The Tessera-led consortium says that the accused firms violated Section 337 of the Tariff Act of 1930 and has demanded that the commission issue an order to ban sales in the US.
The commission voted to launch an investigation, saying that it hopes to complete the probe in 45 days.
The commission said that on May 5, HTC, among other companies, was accused by Singapore-based Creative Technology Ltd of infringing on a patent involving the production of certain mobile devices.
The commission said it has launched a probe into the allegation.
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