Shares in touch-panel controller chip supplier Egalax Empia Technology Inc (禾瑞亞科技) dipped 2.15 percent yesterday due to an unfavorable ruling over a patent infringement lawsuit.
Egalax shares plunged to NT$50.1 yesterday, their lowest in about two months, after local rival Elan Microelectronics Corp (義隆電子) on Friday last week said that it would continue seeking damages over a patent.
Elan shares rose 0.8 percent to NT$37.7 yesterday.
Elan’s remarks came after the nation’s Intellectual Property Court ruled in an interlocutory judgement last week that it found some of Elan’s claims over touch-panel controller patent I489176 valid.
“The ruling is in favor of Elan. If the defendant invades any valid claim of the patent, the behavior will constitute an infringement of patent as related patent law stipulates,” Elan said in a filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange on Friday last week.
Elan will continue to proceed with the legal fight against Egalax after receiving a formal written ruling from the court, the company said.
Elan filed a lawsuit in June last year against Egalax, alleging that Egalax manufactured and sold touch-pad controllers that illegally used its patent linked to mobile electronic touch-panel controllers. The company sought unspecific damages at the time.
In a statement, Egalax said the court only ruled that a subordinate claim of Elan’s patent is valid, while its major claims were ruled invalid. Egalax said that it did not infringe on, or intend to infringe on, any of the company’s patents.
Elan is ranked the world’s No. 2 touch-pad controller supplier, with a 25 percent share of the global market for touch-pad controllers used in notebook computers. The company shipped 43 million units of touch-pad controllers last year.
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