Wistron Corp (緯創), the world’s third-largest notebook computer contract maker, yesterday said a patent infringement lawsuit brought by Toshiba Corp would have a limited impact on its business.
“The products in question only make up a very small portion of our total shipments, and thus the lawsuit will not affect us much,” Wistron said in a filing to the Taiwan Stock Exchange.
The company said it values intellectual property rights and has commissioned a lawyer in the US to handle the case.
Wistron shares plunged 2.47 percent yesterday in Taipei trading to NT$63.1 (US$1.90), compared with the benchmark TAIEX’s 0.34 percent decline.
Japanese computer maker Toshiba filed a complaint against Wistron with the US International Trade Commission on Tuesday, seeking to block imports of notebook computer products by its Taiwanese rival.
Toshiba claimed Wistron is infringing on two of its patents. The complaint singles out the Acer Aspire 4810T notebook computer made by Wistron for Acer Inc (宏碁), the world’s second-largest PC maker.
Wistron and its US affiliates “were given notice of their infringement in communications that took place” with Toshiba before the complaint was filed, Toshiba said.
Notebook sales helped Tokyo-based Toshiba lift fourth-quarter PC shipments by 72 percent in the US, IDC said last week.
Toshiba said it also filed a civil suit against Wistron over the patents in California. That case is likely to be put on hold until the ITC investigation is completed.
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