Avago Technologies cleared by ITC in Realtek patent case

The US International Trade Commission (ITC) has cleared two companies owned by Avago Technologies of violating a patent belonging to semiconductor company Realtek.

Realtek had accused LSI and Seagate Technology, which make semiconductors and disk drives respectively, of infringing a patent used for making integrated circuits.

Both LSI and Seagate were acquired by US-based Avago Technologies earlier this year.

Although LSI and Seagate were found to have used the technology described in the patent, Taiwan-based Realtek could not prove it had sufficient US domestic business and so could not enforce the patent in the US.

The ITC, in Washington, DC, can rule a patent has been violated either if the patent has been infringed or if it is sufficiently used in the US.

If products are found to have infringed, they can be banned from entering the US market.

As a result, several smartphone companies, including Nokia and HTC, have used the ITC for litigation.

In August last year, the ITC banned certain Samsung products from entering the US after they were found to have infringed Apple patents.

Just a few days earlier, the government overturned an ITC decision that could have resulted in certain Apple products being banned after they were found to have infringed Samsung patents.

Avago and Realtek did not respond immediately to a request for comment on the ruling.

Realtek first filed its complaint in 2012, accusing Avago, LSI and Seagate of infringing two of its patents but one was dropped during litigation.