In follow up of the story we reported about yesterday here is more news on the MediaTek patent infrigement case. The company has now promised to not take legal action against clients suspected of pirating its chipset technology.
Stocks of companies that were investigated by Taiwanese authorities (Benq, BTC and AOpen) went down the daily limit, today they went up again. Digitimes reports also more about the part of VIA in this case:
Although the complaint concerns software ownership, Mediatek's move is seen as part of a broad legal campaign to fight competition from archrival VIA Technologies in the multimedia chip business. A week ago, Mediatek sued VIA and AOpen in the US for infringing on two of its patents on CD-ROM chipsets. |
Whether the software in question is used in VIA chipsets, or the four companies knowingly copied Mediatek's technology without permission, remains unclear. A decision is pending examination of drive products gathered in the July 3 search, according to the authorities.
Still, rumors are rampant about the role VIA has played in the dispute. Local newspaper reports quoted a Mediatek source as saying that the company, in its month-long own probe, found software strikingly similar to its own in unbranded chipsets of some CD-ROM drive products. After Mediatek examined those chips further, it found evidence that linked to VIA, according to the reports.
When addressing the media, Mediatek, however, has yet to name VIA as a target. In a statement issued yesterday, the company said it will 'pursue parties that infringe on its intellectual property." It also made apologies to its four clients for the 'inconvenience" caused by the investigation.
More information in this article on Digitimes. Let's see if this will hurt or benefit the sales of MediaTek chipsets...
Source: Digitimes.com
