Richtek Technology Corp (立錡), a leading analog IC designer in Taiwan, yesterday said it had filed patent infringement lawsuits with the US International Trade Commission against five companies — including Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD), the world’s No. 2 maker of microprocessors after Intel Corp.
In a statement to the Taiwan Stock Exchange, the Hsinchu-based chip designer alleged that AMD, Sapphire Technology Ltd (藍寶科技) in Hong Kong, US firms Diamond Multimedia Inc and XFX Technology Inc and Taiwan’s uPI Semiconductor Corp (力智電子) infringed on three of its patents.
Richtek also alleged the companies used its business secrets “inappropriately,” according to the statement.
The firm, established in 1998 with capital of NT$5 million (US$155,000), focused on PC voltage control and analog IC products in its early years. Recently, however, it has expanded to become a supplier of power-management solutions for various consumer electronics products, such as digital still cameras, liquid-crystal displays and mobile handsets.
The company’s expansion into notebook peripherals has helped it secure market share from peers in Taiwan and the US in the last two quarters, Citigroup analyst Timothy Lam (林子謙) said.
Ricktek said the commission informed it on Tuesday that it had begun conducting an investigation into the matter. The company had previously filed a similar lawsuit against the companies in district court in northern California, asking for an injunction and compensation, it said.
Ricktek did not disclose the amount it hoped to receive.
Real estate agent and property developer JSL Construction & Development Co (愛山林) led the average compensation rankings among companies listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE) last year, while contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) finished 14th. JSL Construction paid its employees total average compensation of NT$4.78 million (US$159,701), down 13.5 percent from a year earlier, but still ahead of the most profitable listed tech giants, including TSMC, TWSE data showed. Last year, the average compensation (which includes salary, overtime, bonuses and allowances) paid by TSMC rose 21.6 percent to reach about NT$3.33 million, lifting its ranking by 10 notches
SEASONAL WEAKNESS: The combined revenue of the top 10 foundries fell 5.4%, but rush orders and China’s subsidies partially offset slowing demand Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) further solidified its dominance in the global wafer foundry business in the first quarter of this year, remaining far ahead of its closest rival, Samsung Electronics Co, TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) said yesterday. TSMC posted US$25.52 billion in sales in the January-to-March period, down 5 percent from the previous quarter, but its market share rose from 67.1 percent the previous quarter to 67.6 percent, TrendForce said in a report. While smartphone-related wafer shipments declined in the first quarter due to seasonal factors, solid demand for artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing (HPC) devices and urgent TV-related orders
Prices of gasoline and diesel products at domestic fuel stations are this week to rise NT$0.2 and NT$0.3 per liter respectively, after international crude oil prices increased last week, CPC Corp, Taiwan (台灣中油) and Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) said yesterday. International crude oil prices last week snapped a two-week losing streak as the geopolitical situation between Russia and Ukraine turned increasingly tense, CPC said in a statement. News that some oil production facilities in Alberta, Canada, were shut down due to wildfires and that US-Iran nuclear talks made no progress also helped push oil prices to a significant weekly gain, Formosa said
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