Soitec of Bernin, near Grenoble, France, which makes engineered substrates including silicon-on-insulator (SOI) wafers, says that it is defending its rights in an investigation by the US International Trade Commission (ITC) instituted on 18 September based on a complaint filed by Silicon Genesis Corp (SiGen) of San Jose, CA, USA (which was founded in 1997 to provide engineered substrate process technology for the semiconductor, display, optoelectronics and solar markets) directed to silicon-on-insulator (SOI) wafers sold and imported into the USA by Soitec. US-made SOI-based chips are used in smart phones, tablets, servers, cars and networks, notes Soiec.

In its notice announcing the investigation (337-TA-966) the ITC made clear that the agency “has not yet made any decision on the merits of the case”, says Soitec. SiGen has only satisfied the commission’s administrative requirements for filing a complaint, it adds. 

“We are confident that this case will die on the merits, and relatively soon, with a finding of no violation,” says Jacques Elie Levy, Soitec’s group general counsel and senior VP legal & industrial property. “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,” he adds.

“SiGen as a patent assertion entity does not develop and manufacture SOI wafers, and cannot supply the US market with these critical products ─ and almost certainly cannot satisfy the ITC’s domestic industry requirement,” states Levy. 

The case is not due for a final decision until at least 2017.