Following a complaint by Toshiba Corp., the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) said it would investigate flash memory devices produced by South Korea's Hynix Semiconductor.

The ITC said Friday that the Toshiba complaint, filed January 9, alleges that the importation and sale of the Hynix NAND flash memory devices violates the U.S. Tariff Act of 1930. Toshiba says that the devices infringe upon its patents.

The products at issue in this investigation are semiconductor memory chips that are used in applications such as digital cameras, USB drives, musical players, personal digital assistants, and memory cards, the ITC said in a statement on Friday.

Toshiba requests that the ITC issue a permanent exclusion order and permanent cease and desist orders.

The ITC said it would make a final determination in the investigation at the earliest practicable time. Within 45 days after institution of the investigation, the ITC will set a target date for completing the investigation, the organization said.

Electronics