The US International Trade Commission (USITC) is to launch an investigation into patent infringement allegations against integrated circuit designer MediaTek Inc (聯發科) and other technology firms.
In a statement posted on its Web site on Thursday, the USITC said it would investigate a complaint filed by US-based IC designer Broadcom Corp, which has accused MediaTek and its subsidiary MStar Semiconductor Inc (晨星), as well as other US, South Korean and Japanese companies, of infringing its patents in certain devices.
The USITC said the products at issue are semiconductors and consumer audiovisual products containing those semiconductors, such as digital televisions, set-top boxes, Blu-Ray players, DVD players and recorders, and streaming multimedia players.
MediaTek declined to comment on the decision, saying that the move has not had any adverse impact on the company’s operations.
Other firms named in the complaint dated March 7 are US-based Sigma Designs Inc, R&F USA Inc and Vizio Inc, South Korea’s LG Electronics Inc and Japan’s Funai Electric Co, the USITC said.
Despite the decision to initiate the investigation, the USITC said it has not made any decision on the merits of the case.
The USITC said the commission’s chief administrative law judge would assign the case to a USITC administrative law judge, who would schedule and hold an evidentiary hearing on the accusations.
Before the latest accusation filed by Broadcom, MediaTek was accused by Singapore-based IC firm ZiiLabs Inc and US-headquartered Advanced Micro Devices Inc earlier this year of stealing their technology.
MediaTek shares closed down 0.23 percent at NT$216.5 in Taipei trading yesterday, off an early low of NT$215 after late-session bargain hunting offset the impact of the USITC investigation.
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