30
Jul
By Eric Schweibenz
On July 26, 2010, the International Trade Commission issued a notice finding a violation of 19 U.S.C. § 1337, and determining to issue a limited exclusion order (“LEO”), cease and desist orders (“CDO”), and terminating the Investigation in Certain Semiconductor Chips Having Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory Controllers and Products Containing Same (Inv. No. 337-TA-661).

By way of background, the Complainant in this investigation is Rambus Inc. and the Respondents are NVIDIA Corp., Asustek Computer Inc., ASUS Computer International, Inc., BFG Technologies, Inc., Biostar Microtech (U.S.A.) Corp., Biostar Microtech International Corp., Diablotek Inc., EVGA Corp., G.B.T. Inc., Giga-byte Technology Co., Ltd., Hewlett-Packard Co., MSI Computer Corp., Micro-star International Co., Ltd., Palit Multimedia Inc., Palit Microsystems Ltd., Pine Technology Holdings, Ltd., and Sparkle Computer Co., Ltd. (collectively, “Respondents”).  On January 22, 2010, ALJ Theodore R. Essex issued an Initial Determination (“ID”) finding a violation of Section 337 through the importation, sale for importation, or sale within the U.S. after importation of certain semiconductor chips having synchronous dynamic random access memory controllers and products containing same that infringe one or more claims of U.S. Patent Nos. 6,470,405, 6,591,353 and 7,287,109.  The ALJ further found no infringement of the asserted claims of U.S. Patent Nos. 7,177,998 and 7,210,016.  See our May 4, 2010 post for more details.

On March 25, 2010, the Commission issued a notice determining to review the ID in part.  See our March 26, 2010 post for more details.

After requesting briefing with respect to remedy, the public interest, bonding, and licensing issues (see our June 22, 2010 post) the Commission determined to affirm ALJ Essex’s ID.

The Commission determined that the appropriate form of relief is an LEO and a CDO against Respondents NVIDIA Corp., Hewlett-Packard Co., ASUS Computer International, Inc., Palit Multimedia Inc., Palit Microsystems Ltd., MSI Computer Corp., Micro-Star International, EVGA Corp., DiabloTek, Inc., Biostar Microtech Corp., and BFG Technologies, Inc.  The Commission further determined that the public interest factors did not preclude issuance of these LEO or CDO orders, and that the bond during the Presidential review period should be set at 2.65 percent of the entered value of the imported products.