The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) has been revealed to have requested confidential information related to High Bandwidth Memory (HBM) from SK Hynix (000660) in order to verify whether Samsung Electronics (005930) has infringed on the patents of domestic companies. As the ITC is requesting not only HBM design methods but also production capacity, cost information, and overall trade secrets, concerns are growing in the domestic semiconductor industry.
This request is linked to the ongoing patent lawsuit between Netlist and Samsung Electronics. Last November, Netlist filed a complaint with the ITC, claiming that Samsung Electronics' memory semiconductors, including HBM and DDR5, infringe on its technology. Netlist has also requested that the ITC issue an import exclusion order to prevent the import of those products into the United States.
Netlist requested that the ITC ask for information related to SK Hynix's products and investments to support its claims, and the ITC has accepted this request. A business official said, "From a corporate standpoint, disclosing trade secrets to the outside is a significant burden," and "The ITC's requirements are somewhat excessive."
It appears that Netlist's decision to involve SK Hynix in its dispute with Samsung Electronics is aimed at justifying the request to ban semiconductor imports. The ITC verifies both whether patent infringement has occurred and whether there is a domestic industry utilizing the patent in the U.S. (domestic industry requirement) before issuing an import ban. This is because if there is no domestic industry suffering damages from patent infringement in the U.S., blocking imports would have no practical benefit.
