ITC Opens 2 Section 337 Probes on TSMC Semiconductors, Downstream Products

The International Trade Commission opened two Tariff Act Section 337 investigations into allegations that imports of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. semiconductors and the chips and downstream products that contain them, infringe Globalfoundries patents, said the commission Monday. In one investigation (docket 337-TA-1176), the ITC will consider whether to issue a limited exclusion order and cease and desist orders banning imports of allegedly infringing TSMC semiconductors; chips that contain those semiconductors from Xilinx, Qualcomm and MediaTek; and TVs and smartphones that contain TSMC semiconductors from Hisense, TCL, BLU, Motorola, Google and OnePlus. In a second investigation (docket 337-TA-1177), the ITC will consider the same sanctions for a different set of allegedly infringing TSMC semiconductors, plus the chips that incorporate them from Apple, Nvidia, Broadcom and Cisco. The ITC also will probe smartphones, tablets, wearable devices and set-top boxes with TSMC semiconductors from Apple, Nvidia, Asus and Lenovo, and switches that incorporate them from Arista and Cisco. Representatives of the various respondents we canvassed didn’t comment Tuesday.