Leading SOI wafer supplier Soitec refutes allegations of patent infringement
Soitec, a world leader in manufacturing semiconductor materials for the electronics industry, continues to vigorously defend its rights in an investigation by the U.S. International Trade Commission (“ITC”). The investigation was instituted on September 18, 2015 based on a complaint filed by Silicon Genesis Corp. (“SiGen”) directed to silicon-on-insulator (“SOI”) wafers sold and imported into the United States by Soitec. SOI technology is critical for the U.S. electronics chip industry, with U.S. made SOI based chips being used in smart phones, tablets, servers, cars and networks.
The ITC made very clear in its notice announcing the Investigation (337-TA-966) that the agency “has not yet made any decision on the merits of the case.” SiGen has only satisfied the Commission’s administrative requirements for filing a complaint. “We are confident that this case will die on the merits, and relatively soon, with a finding of no violation,” said Jacques Elie Levy, group general counsel and senior vice president legal and industrial property with Soitec. “As a matter of principle, Soitec respects the intellectual property rights of third parties. The asserted patents are not infringed by Soitec. In fact, SiGen initially asserted eight patents against our products in the ITC investigation and has now agreed to withdraw its claims on three of those patents.”
“SiGen as a patent assertion entity does not develop and manufacture SOI wafers, and cannot supply the U.S. market with these critical products ─ and almost certainly cannot satisfy the ITC’s domestic industry requirement”, Levy added.
