On July 20, 2010, the International Trade Commission issued a notice determining not to review the findings in ALJ Charles E. Bullock’s March 22, 2010 Second Supplemental Initial Determination (“Second Supplemental ID”) and November 9, 2005 Remand Initial Determination (“Remand ID”) collectively finding no violation of Section 337 in Certain Encapsulated Integrated Circuit Devices and Products Containing Same (Inv. No. 337-TA-501).  As a result, the Commission determined that there has been no violation of Section 337, and terminated the investigation.

By way of background, the Complainant in this investigation is Amkor Technology, Inc. (“Amkor”) and the Respondents are Carsem (M) Sdn Bhd, Carsem Semiconductor Sdn Bhd, and Carsem, Inc. (collectively, “Carsem”).  The Commission instituted the investigation on December 19, 2003.  On November 9, 2005, ALJ Bullock issued the Remand ID finding that (1) there was a violation of Section 337 in connection with U.S. Patent No. 6,433,277 (the ‘277 patent); and (2) there was no violation of Section 337 in connection with U.S. Patent Nos. 6,630,728 and 6,455,356.

After ALJ Bullock issued the Remand ID, the investigation was delayed in connection with obtaining certain alleged prior art documents from non-party ASAT, Inc. (“ASAT”).  On July 1, 2008, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia granted the Commission’s petition to enforce subpoenas duces tecum and ad testificandum to ASAT in connection with the alleged prior art.  In response, Carsem renewed its motion to remand the investigation and reopen the record to include any new evidence obtained as a result of the enforcement of the subpoenas.

The Commission issued a Remand Order on July 1, 2009, ordering that (1) the investigation be remanded to reopen the record to admit any new evidence obtained as a result of the enforcement of the subpoena duces tecum to ASAT, and (2) the ALJ revise or supplement the Remand ID as appropriate, in light of the supplemental evidence, making all necessary findings concerning Carsem’s invalidity defenses.  On October 30, 2009, ALJ Bullock issued a First Supplemental Initial Determination (“First Supplemental ID”) reaffirming his finding of a violation of Section 337 despite the new evidence obtained from ASAT.  See our November 27, 2009 post for more details.

On February 18, 2010, the Commission issued an order reversing ALJ Bullock’s First Supplemental ID and remanding the investigation to the ALJ to make necessary findings on anticipation and obviousness in view of the Commission’s determination that the ASAT disclosures included additional prior art to Amkor’s asserted patents.  See our February 22, 2010 post for more details.  On March 22, 2010, ALJ Bullock issued the Second Supplemental ID finding no violation of Section 337 due to the anticipation and obviousness of various claims of the asserted patents in view of the ASAT prior art.  See our March 23, 2010 and April 9, 2010 posts for more details.

According to the July 20 notice, Amkor and Carsem filed initial comments seeking review of various portions of the Second Supplemental ID, and all parties filed response comments.

After examining the record of the investigation, including the Remand ID, the Second Supplemental ID, the comments, and the response comments, the Commission determined not to review the findings made in the Remand ID and Second Supplemental ID.  Accordingly, the Commission determined that there has been no violation of Section 337, and terminated the investigation.  Lastly, the notice states that “an opinion supporting the Commission’s determination will be issued.”