SCOTTS VALLEY, Calif., Sept. 29, 2005 (PRIMEZONE) -- Carsem, a leading provider of turnkey packaging and test services to the semiconductor industry, announced today that the Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) has issued yet another favorable decision in Carsem's International Trade Commission (ITC) litigation with Amkor. In July this year Carsem requested that the record of the Investigation be re-opened to permit Carsem to demonstrate that ASAT, Inc. has "control" over documents in the possession of its parent companies in Hong Kong that further demonstrate the invalidity of Amkor's three asserted MLF patents. In an earlier Initial determination, the ALJ found all of Amkor's asserted patent claims to be invalid over prior art, not infringed, or both; however that decision is still under review.
The ALJ's finding of "control" by ASAT, Inc. is a prerequisite to the ITC issuing an order compelling ASAT to turn the additional documents over to Carsem for use in the Investigation. With the assistance of the ITC and the Federal District Court in Washington, D.C., Carsem has been trying to obtain the documents from ASAT for more than six months. ASAT and Amkor have together fought the efforts of Carsem, the ITC, and the District Court to obtain production of the documents. ASAT appealed a previous order of the District Court to turn over the documents to the District of Columbia Court of Appeal, which remanded the case to the ITC for further findings on the "control" issue. ASAT and Amkor opposed Carsem's efforts to re-open the record, but were unsuccessful.
On September 8, 2005, after receiving extensive evidence and briefing from Carsem, ASAT, and Amkor, the ALJ issued Order No. 102 finding that ASAT, Inc. does in fact have the requisite "control" of the subpoenaed documents. The ALJ's Order has been certified to the Commission for further enforcement proceedings against ASAT.
David Comley, Carsem's Group Managing Director, stated, "We remain convinced that Carsem independently developed the MLP technology and I am pleased this most recent decision by the ALJ continues to favor our position. We will persist in vigorously defending Carsem against what we feel is an unjust action by Amkor."
About Carsem
Carsem is a leading provider of turnkey packaging and test services to the semiconductor industry, and offers one of the widest ranges of package & test portfolios in the world. To meet the growing demands of the telecommunications and wireless markets for smaller, faster, thermally-efficient devices, Carsem's portfolio includes several advanced technologies, such as the Micro Leadframe Package (MLP), Small Scale Ball Grid Array (SSBGA), Flip Chip On Leadframe (FCOL), and a SiP (System-in-Package) capability. Carsem also offers a full range of turnkey test services for RF, mixed-signal, linear, digital and power devices. Our factories maintain world-class quality standards having achieved SAC Level 1, ISO-9001, ISO-14001, QS-9000, TS16949 certifications, and are supported with a global network of sales and engineering support offices. Carsem is a member of the Hong Leong Group with factories located in Ipoh, Malaysia, Suzhou, China and sales offices across the USA, plus the UK and Taiwan. Carsem, Inc. sales headquarters is located at 269 Mt. Hermon Road, Suite 104, Scotts Valley, CA 95066, phone (831) 438-6861, fax (831) 438-6863, web site: www.carsem.com.