[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 147 (Tuesday, July 31, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 45373-45374]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-18591]


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INTERNATIONAL TRADE COMMISSION

[Investigation No. 337-TA-753]


Certain Semiconductor Chips and Products Containing Same; 
Termination of the Investigation With a Finding of No Violation of 
Section 337

AGENCY: U.S. International Trade Commission.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that the U.S. International Trade 
Commission has determined to terminate the above-captioned 
investigation with a finding of no violation of section 337 of the 
Tariff Act of 1930, 19 U.S.C. 1337.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Sidney A. Rosenzweig, Office of the 
General Counsel, U.S. International Trade Commission, 500 E Street SW., 
Washington, DC 20436, telephone (202) 708-2532. Copies of non-
confidential documents filed in connection with this investigation are 
or will be available for inspection during official business hours 
(8:45 a.m. to 5:15 p.m.) in the Office of the Secretary, U.S. 
International Trade Commission, 500 E Street SW., Washington, DC 20436, 
telephone (202) 205-2000. General information concerning the Commission

[[Page 45374]]

may also be obtained by accessing its Internet server at http://www.usitc.gov. The public record for this investigation may be viewed 
on the Commission's electronic docket (EDIS) at http://edis.usitc.gov. 
Hearing-impaired persons are advised that information on this matter 
can be obtained by contacting the Commission's TDD terminal on (202) 
205-1810.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Commission instituted this investigation 
on January 4, 2011, based on a complaint filed by Rambus Inc. of 
Sunnyvale, California (``Rambus''), alleging a violation of section 337 
in the importation, sale for importation, and sale within the United 
States after importation of certain semiconductor chips and products 
containing the same. 76 FR 384 (Jan. 4, 2011). The complaint alleged 
the infringement of various claims of patents including U.S. Patent 
Nos. 6,470,405; 6,591,353; 7,287,109 (collectively, ``the Barth 
patents''); and Nos. 7,602,857; and 7,715,494 (collectively, ``the 
Dally patents''). The Barth patents share a common specification, as do 
the Dally patents. The notice of investigation named as respondents 
Freescale Semiconductor of Austin, Texas (``Freescale''); Broadcom 
Corp. of Irvine, California (``Broadcom''); LSI Corporation of 
Milpitas, California (``LSI''); Mediatek Inc. of Hsin-Chu, Taiwan 
(``Mediatek''); NVIDIA Corp. of Santa Clara, California (``NVIDIA''); 
STMicroelectronics N.V. of Geneva, Switzerland; and STMicroelectronics 
Inc. of Carrollton, Texas (collectively, ``STMicro''), as well as 
approximately twenty customers of one or more of these respondents.
    The investigation has since been terminated against many of the 
respondents on the basis of Rambus's settlements with Broadcom, 
Freescale, MediaTek, and NVIDIA.
    LSI and STMicro are the only two manufacturer respondents 
remaining. With them as respondents are their customers Asustek 
Computer, Inc. and Asus Computer International, Inc.; Cisco Systems, 
Inc.; Garmin International Inc.; Hewlett-Packard Company; Hitachi 
Global Storage Technologies; and Seagate Technology.
    On March 2, 2012, the ALJ issued the final ID. The ID found no 
violation of section 337 for several reasons. All of the asserted 
claims were found to be invalid or obvious in view of the prior art 
under 35 U.S.C. 102 or 103. The Barth patents were found to be 
unenforceable under the doctrine of unclean hands by virtue of Rambus's 
destruction of documents. The ID also found that Rambus had exhausted 
its rights under the Barth patents as to certain products of one 
respondent. The ID found that all of the asserted patent claims were 
infringed, and rejected numerous affirmative defenses raised by the 
respondents.
    On March 19, 2012, Rambus, the respondents and the Commission 
investigative attorney (``IA'') each filed a petition for review of the 
ID. On March 27, 2012, these parties each filed a response to the 
others' petitions.
    On May 3, 2012, the Commission determined to review the ID in its 
entirety. 77 FR 27,249 (May 9, 2012). The notice of review asked the 
parties to brief certain questions.
    Having examined the record of this investigation, including the 
ALJ's final ID, the petitions for review and the responses thereto, and 
the briefing in response to the notice of review, the Commission has 
determined to terminate the investigation with a finding of no 
violation of section 337.
    The Commission has determined to find no violation of section 337 
for the following reasons: We affirm the ALJ's conclusion that all of 
the asserted patent claims are invalid under 35 U.S.C. 102 or 103, 
except for the asserted Dally multiple-transmitter claims ('857 claims 
11-13, 32-34, 50-52), for which we find that Rambus has not 
demonstrated infringement. We reverse the ALJ's determination that 
Rambus has demonstrated the existence of a domestic industry under 19 
U.S.C. 1337(a) for both the Barth patents and Dally patents. We affirm 
the ALJ's determination that the Barth patents are unenforceable under 
the doctrine of unclean hands. We affirm the ALJ's finding of 
exhaustion of the Barth patents as to one respondent. The Commission's 
determinations, including non-dispositive findings not recited above, 
will be set forth more fully in the Commission's opinion.
    The authority for the Commission's determination is contained in 
section 337 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (19 U.S.C. 1337), and 
in sections 210.21, 210.42-46 and 210.50 of the Commission's Rules of 
Practice and Procedure (19 CFR 210.21, 210.42-46 and 210.50).

    By order of the Commission.

    Issued: July 25, 2012.
Lisa R. Barton,
Acting Secretary to the Commission.
[FR Doc. 2012-18591 Filed 7-30-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7020-02-P