Japans Sanyo Electric Co said yesterday it has prepared for a US probe on suspected infringement of microchip patents.
Sanyo said in a statement released to Kyodo news agency that the firm had been consulting with lawyers since Atmel Corp filed a complaint with the US International Trade Commission last month.
We are prepared to deal with this probe, Kyodo quoted the statement as saying. Sanyo did not elaborate in the statement and Sanyo officials were not available for comment yesterday, a public holiday in Japan.
On Wednesday, the International Trade Commission voted to investigate a complaint by Atmel Corp that Japanese and Taiwanese companies were selling products in the United States that infringe on Atmel patents.
Atmel named Sanyo, Winbond Electronics Corp of Taiwan and Macronix International and Macronix, Inc of San Jose, California, in the complaint.
The company alleged that Sanyo, Winbond and Macronix are unfairly competing in the United States semiconductor market by selling products that infringe on four US patents owned by Atmel.
The ITC said the case has been referred to an ITC administrative law judge and that it will set a target date for completion of the investigation within 45 days.
