The government-funded Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI, 工研院) denied yesterday that its patent lawsuit settlement with Samsung Electronics Co last year has negatively affected the interests of Taiwanese companies.
However, ITRI president Shyu Jyuo-min (徐爵民) refused to disclose the details of the settlement, citing confidentiality.
The ITRI’s denial came after Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Pan Men-an (潘孟安) yesterday accused the Hsinchu-based research institute of signing unfair agreements with Samsung to settle several patent lawsuits, citing a report by the Chinese-language Wealth Magazine (財訊).
Photo: Chang Chia-ming, Taipei Times
The magazine reported that the settlement could affect patent rights that local companies, including flat panel maker AU Optronics Corp (友達光電), purchased from the institute.
In June and October of 2009, the ITRI filed a total of seven patent infringement lawsuits against Samsung and its US unit with a US court in Arkansas.
Citing the magazine report, Pan told a press conference yesterday that the ITRI settled the lawsuits with Samsung last year for less than NT$2 billion (US$70 million), while authorizing Samsung to use more than 100 of its patents.
However, under the settlement, the ITRI also signed an agreement with Samsung not to sue, agreeing not to pursue its patent claims against the South Korean firm in the fields of consumer electronics, flat-panel displays, -communications and semiconductors where the institute now owns patents or is applying for patents over the next six years, Pan said, citing the magazine report.
If the ITRI sells these patents to a third party, the third party should also not sue Samsung, according to the report.
Pan said the number of patents included in the covenant not to sue accounted for about two-thirds of the ITRI’s roughly 14,000 patents, worth more than NT$10 billion.
As these patents are valid for 20 years, the signing of the agreement not to sue would mean Taiwanese firms could not pursue patent claims against Samsung for the next 26 years, thus posing a huge threat to local electronics firms, Pan said.
Pan said he would ask the Ministry of Economic Affairs and the ITRI to submit a special report on the settlement to the legislature.
In response, Shyu said that the ITRI did not agree to sell patents involved in the settlement exclusively to Samsung when it reached the deal last year with the South Korean company, which is seen as a rival by local electronics companies. Nor did the ITRI ink any deal with Samsung on cross-licensing, he added.
In a statement, the ITRI described the accusation as “false” and said that it has continued to work closely with local companies in patent lawsuits and technology development.
The ITRI, which said it was considering taking legal action against Wealth Magazine, said the report has caused a “major impact” on the ITRI’s ongoing lawsuit against LG Electronics Inc of South Korea.
MULTIFACETED: A task force has analyzed possible scenarios and created responses to assist domestic industries in dealing with US tariffs, the economics minister said The Executive Yuan is tomorrow to announce countermeasures to US President Donald Trump’s planned reciprocal tariffs, although the details of the plan would not be made public until Monday next week, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said yesterday. The Cabinet established an economic and trade task force in November last year to deal with US trade and tariff related issues, Kuo told reporters outside the legislature in Taipei. The task force has been analyzing and evaluating all kinds of scenarios to identify suitable responses and determine how best to assist domestic industries in managing the effects of Trump’s tariffs, he
TIGHT-LIPPED: UMC said it had no merger plans at the moment, after Nikkei Asia reported that the firm and GlobalFoundries were considering restarting merger talks United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電), the world’s No. 4 contract chipmaker, yesterday launched a new US$5 billion 12-inch chip factory in Singapore as part of its latest effort to diversify its manufacturing footprint amid growing geopolitical risks. The new factory, adjacent to UMC’s existing Singapore fab in the Pasir Res Wafer Fab Park, is scheduled to enter volume production next year, utilizing mature 22-nanometer and 28-nanometer process technologies, UMC said in a statement. The company plans to invest US$5 billion during the first phase of the new fab, which would have an installed capacity of 30,000 12-inch wafers per month, it said. The
Taiwan’s official purchasing managers’ index (PMI) last month rose 0.2 percentage points to 54.2, in a second consecutive month of expansion, thanks to front-loading demand intended to avoid potential US tariff hikes, the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) said yesterday. While short-term demand appeared robust, uncertainties rose due to US President Donald Trump’s unpredictable trade policy, CIER president Lien Hsien-ming (連賢明) told a news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s economy this year would be characterized by high-level fluctuations and the volatility would be wilder than most expect, Lien said Demand for electronics, particularly semiconductors, continues to benefit from US technology giants’ effort
‘SWASTICAR’: Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s close association with Donald Trump has prompted opponents to brand him a ‘Nazi’ and resulted in a dramatic drop in sales Demonstrators descended on Tesla Inc dealerships across the US, and in Europe and Canada on Saturday to protest company chief Elon Musk, who has amassed extraordinary power as a top adviser to US President Donald Trump. Waving signs with messages such as “Musk is stealing our money” and “Reclaim our country,” the protests largely took place peacefully following fiery episodes of vandalism on Tesla vehicles, dealerships and other facilities in recent weeks that US officials have denounced as terrorism. Hundreds rallied on Saturday outside the Tesla dealership in Manhattan. Some blasted Musk, the world’s richest man, while others demanded the shuttering of his
RSS