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May 15, 2001...Rohm Co. has filed a motion to withdraw its complaint before the US International
Trade Commission against Nichia Corporation regarding dispute over two US patents
related to the development of compound semi-based blue spectrum laser diodes.
According to Nichia, which issued press
release today in response to the action, Rohm filed the motion to withdraw
"abruptly," shortly after ITC Administrative Law Judge Sidney Harris
issued an order that would have allowed Nichia to pursue a certain discovery
that may have uncovered evidence of antitrust and conspiracy by Rohm. Nichia's
lead counsel, Mark A. Grant, said, "It is unheard of that an ITC investigation
is abandoned midway through the process like this. Nichia believes they would
have proven that Rohm fabricated a domestic industry to obtain ITC jurisdiction
and knowingly asserted invalid and unenforceable patents." In response to
Nichia's ongoing posture as a result of this complaint withdrawal, Norbori Tazaki,
Managing Director and GM of Nichia's Optoelectronics Products Division added,
"We believe the motion to withdraw removes any doubt that the ITC complaint
was frivolous and that manufacturers in the U.S. will have on-going access to
Nichia's LEDs. This turn of events also eliminates concern over the availability
of violet and blue laser diodes in the U.S., as Nichia is the world's only commercial
supplier of these parts." According to the release, that may not be the
end of ITC's actions. Mr. Grant added, "The complaint was noteworthy from
the start. It is very rare for the ITC to handle an investigation in which both
parties are Japanese companies," as ITC investigations are normally
conducted as a means of determining whether or not domestic industries are materially
injured by imports that infringe US patents. According to Mr. Grant, if the
ITC finds that certain products do, in fact, infringe on US patents, the ITC
may issue an order preventing the continued importation of the infringing products.
For background on this and other related litigation issues involving Nichia,
Cree, and others, we refer you to our Jan.
1, 2000 issue of CompoundSemi News. Tokyo Court Dismisses Nichia Suit Against CreeMay 15, 2001...A three-member panel of judges in Tokyo's District Court today
dismissed the December 1999 lawsuit filed by Nichia Corporation against
Sumitomo Corporation, one of Cree Inc.'s distributors
in Japan. Nichia's original allegations were that certain Cree blue LED products
infringed against Nichia's Japanese Patent No. 2,918,139 which was directed
at Cree's device structure as used by Cree for their standard brightness, compound
semi-based blue spectrum product lines. Commenting on the decision, Cree's Chairman
and CEO said, "the Tokyo District Court's decision represents a significant
victory for Cree. We succeeded in defending our products in the case, and that
success lends further support to our long-standing belief that Cree's silicon
carbide-based LEDs differ in significant ways from LEDs produced by our competitors." TriQuint Merges with Sawtek in $1.3 Billion Deal to Exploit "Modules"May 15, 2001...TriQuint Semiconductor, Inc. (Nasdaq:
TQNT) today announced
a merger with Sawtek Inc. (Nasdaq: SAWS). The merger permits TriQuint, which is a major compound semiconductor industry pioneering component supplier, to "leapfrog" into the more lucrative "module"
sector that addresss a more integrated approach to providing the market
with broadband subsystems that optomize compound semiconductor-based technology with supportive technologies and components.
Under the terms of the merger agreement, Sawtek Inc. will receive 1.1507 shares
of TriQuint Semiconductor common stock for each share of Sawtek common stock
and the value of the deal based on yesterday's closing price is approximately
$1.3 billion. Upon the closing of the transaction, TriQuint shareholders will
hold approximately 64% of the combined company, with former Sawtek shareholders
holding approximately 36% and Sawtek will become a subsidiary of TriQuint. TriQuint is a very familiar name in the compound
semi industry and has longstanding expertise in highly integrated
circuits. Modules denote taking components further up the value chain requiring
the integration of even more functionality on fewer chips and employing extremely small,
intense and innovative packaging strategies, which Sawtek is expected to contribute along with their traditional surface acoustic wave (SAW) filters. As TriQuint's President and CEO, Steve Sharp, explained in the subsequent conference call, "Our vision is to create a whole radio in a module."
Sawtek Inc. which is based in Orlando, Florida designs, develops, manufactures and markets a broad range
of electronic signal processing components based on surface acoustic wave (SAW)
technology primarily for use in the wireless communications industry. Steve Sharp also underscored that the newly expanded combined
company will make significant use of outsourced assembly. Today's press
release and conference
call on the merger provides more details on the technologies involved. Boeing's Next Move?May 14, 2001...As followup to the recent news of Boeing's move to Chicago, and because Boeing
has many strong ties to the compounds, we felt readers might want a few more
Boeing facts. According to a well-researched report
by AP's Dave Carpenter, Boeing's recent move reinforces that diversification
of that key aerospace company is underway. Recent Boeing acquisitions have included
St. Louis-based McDonnell Douglas (which is very close to Chicago), Rockwell's
space business and Hughes Electronic's satellite manufacturing business (now
Boeing Satellite Systems). Dave also points out that Boeing is the top contractor
for the International Space Station (something McDonnell Douglas instigated
way back when NASA ruled) and that all the above businesses could help cushion
Boeing against increased competition from other giants such as Lockheed Martin,
which is vying with Boeing for the highly lucrative $200 billion Joint Strike
Fighter (JSF) contract. With the Pentagon getting renewed respect in Washington
budget circles, the move from Boeing's current 60% commercial emphasis back
to more defense work may equate to a boost for the compounds. All the above
named companies have a rich history in compound semi development and Rockwell
Science Center and HRL Labs continue to be trend-setters in leading edge electronic
and communication components, heavily dependent on compounds such as InP. GE Gets Detailed Negative Report from EC on Honeywell AcquisitionMay 11, 2001...The European Commission has replied in detail and in the negative regarding
GE's proposed acquisition of Honeywell. Although Honeywell's compound semi-based
VCSEL and sensor divisions aren't likely to make headlines (except here), those
interests are very much at stake in the deal. According to coverage
in the Wall Street Journal's online service, the EC's 158 page document, as
faxed to the companies this week, puts the ball back in General Electric's court.
Optical Comm Market to Drop by 13% in '01 Hitting $2.9 Billion
by 2005May 10, 2001...Due to this year's unexpected overall dip in the purchases of high-speed analog
and mixed signal ICs, as used in optical networks, Strategies
Unlimited forecasts a 13% decline in 2001, but predicts orders will stabilize
before the end of the year as the market resumes its growth path to $2.9 billion
by 2005. Strategies Unlimited's new report ICs for Optical Communications, "2.5
Gb/s and Beyond" provides a comprehensive analysis and forecast of the
applications, products, technology, and suppliers of high-speed ICs used in
fiber optic networks operating at 2.5 to 40 Gb/s. The firm reports that two
key factors will drive the market for ICs for optical networking in the coming
years. The first is the continued increase in data rates in optical networks
to 40 Gb/sec (OC-768) transmission requirements and the second, the build-out
of new, high-speed metropolitan fiber rings in which competition is mounting
between CMOS, SiGe, GaAs, and InP technologies. For more details of who and
what's involved from Strategies' perspective, see their press
release on the topic. Our news features are reported
by the CompoundSemi News staff writers.
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