International Rectifier Corp. (IR, El Segundo, CA) has filed a lawsuit in district court claiming the establishment of Renesas Technology Corp. is invalid because the procedure used by partners Hitachi Ltd. and Mitsubishi Electric Corp. to form Renesas violated Japanese commercial law. Japanese commercial law requires that companies initiating corporate splits must gain the approval of creditors. IR alleges that Hitachi neglected to inform it of the transaction.
The lawsuit brought against Hitachi, Mitsubishi Electric and Renesas in early September 2003 originated in an intellectual property dispute between IR and Hitachi over power semiconductor technology. IR claims it was damaged by the arrangement used to form Renesas because it was a Hitachi creditor. IR initially accused Hitachi in a federal court in Los Angeles. In January 2002, it accused Hitachi of infringing its intellectual property related to power MOS semiconductor technology. Hitachi countersued in California and Tokyo district court in April 2002.
The IP dispute has not been settled, but US court provisionally banned the sales of Hitachi's power semiconductors in the US, provding IR with grounds to file for damages. Industry watchers said IR's lawsuit is designed primarily to settle the IP dispute with Hitachi rather than to challenge the legal foundation for the creation of Renesas.
