News: Microelectronics
30 May 2023
Innoscience responds to EPC’s lawsuits filed at US ITC and federal courts
Innoscience (Zhuhai) Technology Co Ltd of Suzhou, China says that it “vigorously responds” to the lawsuit against the firm and its affiliates that was filed by Efficient Power Conversion Corp (EPC) of El Segundo, CA, USA at the US International Trade Commission (FTC) and US federal courts, asserting four patents of its foundational patent portfolio for EPC’s proprietary enhancement-mode gallium nitride on silicon (eGaN) power semiconductor devices.
The statements in EPC’s legal lawsuit announcement are “seriously at odds with the facts,” believes Innoscience. “The motivations and objectives are doubtful,” it adds.
“This action by EPC constitutes illegal competition tactics aimed at undermining Innoscience’s competitive advantage. Innoscience reserves the right to pursue legal liability for the losses caused by this,” the firm says.
Innoscience states that its intellectual property rights are “clear, traceable, and free from infringement”. “Since its establishment, Innoscience has filed 753 relevant patents globally, with 129 patents granted,” the firm notes. Regarding the four allegations of intellectual property infringement raised by EPC, Innoscience has “promptly conducted a thorough analysis and confirmed that there is no infringement of EPC’s intellectual property rights”.
“In comparison to Innoscience, EPC has a significant disparity in terms of business scale, scope of operations, and technological strength. The allegations of technology plagiarism, based on the job changes of a few employees, are purely speculative and lack factual basis,” Innoscience claims. “Contrary to claims by EPC, they did not serve as chief technology officer and head of sales & marketing,” it adds.
“Innoscience is an IDM (integrated device manufacturer) semiconductor company with its core competence lying in the full vertical integration of the semiconductor industry, including chip manufacturing,” the firm states. “Innoscience is globally recognized for its pioneering 8-inch GaN mass-manufacturing process. On the other hand, EPC is a fabless design company whose product designs primarily rely on a 6-inch foundry process platform. EPC does not possess its own wafer fabrication facilities or corresponding manufacturing processes,” it adds.
Innoscience states that its GaN products span a wide voltage range, from low (15V) to high (700V), whereas EPC’s product range is limited to “only a few low-voltage devices, which represents only a small fraction of Innoscience’s product portfolio”, it claims.
Innoscience will “immediately take all legal measures to counterattack”. The firm has proactively initiated a response plan to address the investigations and lawsuits, which it claims to be maliciously filed by EPC.
EPC sues Innoscience at ITC for GaN power device patent infringement
