Infineon Seeks to Block Elpida U.S. Chip Imports in Patent Suit

Feb. 23 (Bloomberg) -- Infineon AG, Europe’s second-largest chipmaker, filed a patent-infringement complaint that seeks to block U.S. imports of computer-memory chips by Japan’s Elpida Memory Inc.

In a complaint filed Feb. 19 with the U.S. International Trade Commission in Washington, Infineon claims Elpida infringes four patents related to dynamic random access memory, or DRAM, which acts as the main memory in computers.

“Infineon has always been at the forefront of advanced semiconductor processing technologies,” Hermann Eul, an Infineon management board member, said in a statement yesterday. “We will protect our intellectual-property rights, which arise from our commitment to cutting-edge research and development.”

Should it win the case, Infineon might be able to shut Elpida, Japan’s biggest DRAM maker, out of the U.S. market. The global market for DRAM chips is expected to surge by more than 40 percent this year to $31.9 billion as prices rise and demand for personal computers recovers, research firm ISuppli Corp. said last week.

Hiroshi Tsuboi, a Tokyo-based spokesman for Elpida, declined to comment when contacted by phone today.

The ITC typically completes investigations within about 15 months after it agrees to probe patent-infringement complaints. The agency has the power to order U.S. customs to block products found to infringe U.S. patents from crossing the border into the country.

Elpida lost 3 percent to 1,615 yen as of the 11 a.m. trading break on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, trimming the gain this year to 7.2 percent. The benchmark Nikkei 225 Stock Average declined 1.2 percent today. Infineon advanced 0.8 percent to 4.19 euros in German trading yesterday.

Kingston, A-Data

In addition to Tokyo-based Elpida, the complaint names companies including Kingston Technology Co. of Fountain Valley, California; A-Data Technology Co. of Taiwan; Apacer Technology Inc. of Taiwan; Buffalo Technology Inc. of Nagoya, Japan, and Austin, Texas; Corsair Memory of Fremont, California; Mushkin Inc. of Englewood, Colorado; and Transcend Information Inc. of Taiwan, according to the notice posted on the ITC’s Web site.

Those companies make memory modules, which have Elpida DRAM chips mounted on circuit boards for use in personal computers, laptops and other electronics, according to the complaint.

The Japanese company sold $715 million worth of DRAM products in North America in the year ended March 31, according to the complaint. Elpida’s chips were made mostly in Japan, with some manufactured in Taiwan.

Adopted Without Authorization

“Elpida has adopted wholesale, without Infineon’s authorization, many of Infineon’s patented inventions,” Infineon said in the complaint. “Elpida has expressed its intention to become the top supplier of DRAMs in the world.”

Lawyers who represented Elpida in another case before the ITC didn’t immediately return messages seeking comment.

The patents cover ways to make the DRAM chips, including methods to improve the creation of contacts and interconnects that conduct electricity on the circuits and increased accuracy of the different layers on the chips.

Infineon provides chips for LG Electronics Inc.’s mobile phones and Apple Inc.’s iPhone and last month doubled its 2010 sales-growth target, saying revenue for the year ending Sept. 30 will rise more than 20 percent.

The Neubiberg, Germany-based company reported its second consecutive quarterly profit after collective losses of more than 3.9 billion euros ($5.3 billion) in the 10 previous quarters. The company had to raise funds from shareholders, borrow money and sell assets to stay afloat last year. STMicroelectronics NV is Europe’s largest chipmaker.

The price of the benchmark 1-gigabit DRAM chip more than tripled last year after tumbling 62 percent to a record low in 2008, according to Taipei-based Dramexchange Technology Inc., operator of Asia’s largest spot market for memory.

The case is In the Matter of Random Access Memory Semiconductors, Complaint No. 2712, U.S. International Trade Commission (Washington).

To contact the reporter on this story: Susan Decker in Washington at sdecker1@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: David E. Rovella at drovella@bloomberg.net.