TI asks judge to block ITC review of Tessera's patent violation claim

TI asks judge to block ITC review of Tessera's patent violation claim
By Jack Robertson, EBN
May 2, 2000 (12:16 p.m. EST)
URL: http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20000502S0014

Federal District Court Judge David Carter has been asked to rule on a petition by Texas Instruments Inc. that seeks to block the International Trade Commission's investigation of a patent-infringement case filed against TI by Tessera Inc.

In a request filed Monday in Los Angeles, TI asked the judge for a preliminary injunction against the ITC, arguing that there was not sufficient cause for the commission to launch an investigation against the chip maker for allegedly violating semiconductor packaging technology patented by Tessera.

As previously reported, the ITC last week accepted Tessera's petition seeking to bar import of TI semiconductors with chip-scale packaging, which the San Jose-based company said infringes its micro-BGA technology (see April 28 story).

Attorneys for the ITC are arguing that the trade commission is a proper vehicle for looking into the patent-infringement complaint.

Tessera also filed a similar micro-BGA patent-infringement charge against Sharp Corp. with both the ITC and in federal district court in San Jose.