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UMC
Files Lawsuit Against Silicon Integrated Systems (SIS) In
US Federal Court
SUNNYVALE,
Calif., December 4, 2000--
United Microelectronics Corporation of Taiwan (NYSE:UMC) filed
a lawsuit today against Taiwan-based Silicon Integrated Systems
in Federal Court in San Jose, California. In this filing,
UMC claims that SiS entered the chip making business by engaging
in a systematic pattern of abuse of UMC's intellectual property
rights, including patent infringement, misappropriation of
trade secrets, breach of confidentiality agreements and unfair
competition. UMC's lawsuit seeks a Court order prohibiting
SiS from further violations of the law, together with monetary
damages in an amount to be determined by a jury at trial.
"UMC intends to protect
to the fullest extent of the law the intellectual property
that we have spent hundreds of millions of US dollars and
countless manhours of engineering and manufacturing effort
over the past twenty years to develop," said John Hsuan, UMC
Chairman. "We believe that intellectual property is the cornerstone
of our success, and know that technological prowess comes
only as a result of substantial and independent effort. We
cannot sit still while other companies take our people and
abuse our proprietary information to launch into the business
without making the investments and engineering work required
to secure advanced technology legitimately. We do not believe
modern industry will tolerate those who seek shortcuts to
success through the misuse of intellectual property belonging
to others."
"UMC has taken this
step only after careful deliberation," explained Mr. Hsuan.
"SiS declined our requests for specific assurances that SiS
has respected our legal rights, and we saw no other way to
protect our shareholders and their property. We trust
this is a matter that will be decided in the Courts, and therefore
do not expect to comment further on specifics." More
detail of UMC's allegations are stated in its Complaint, which
is available from the District Court in California and can
be viewed here
(pdf, 296kb).
Note
Concerning Forward-Looking Statements
Some of the statements
in the foregoing announcement are forward-looking within the
meaning of the U.S. Federal Securities laws, including statements
about future outsourcing, wafer capacity, technologies, business
relationships and market conditions. Investors are cautioned
that actual events and results could differ materially from
these statements as a result of a variety of factors, including
conditions in the overall semiconductor market and economy;
acceptance and demand for products from UMC and technological
and development risks.
Editorial
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