Partner Melissa Mannino is quoted in a July 13, 2023, Reuters article titled “Chip wars: How ‘chiplets’ are emerging as a core part of China’s tech strategy.”
According to the article, “Chiplets, or small chips, can be the size of a grain of sand or bigger than a thumbnail and are brought together in a process called advanced packaging,” which can be used to create “one powerful brain” to power everything from home gadgets to data centers. With China making major investments in this area, the article continues, there is some concern that China is gaining an advantage.
Indeed, some deals, including one in which Chinese firm Chipuller acquired 28 patents owned by Silicon Valley startup zGlue, are troubling some lawmakers and raising questions about whether the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) could review them. (CFIUS reviews some foreign transactions for potential threats to U.S. national security.)
Mannino told Reuters that patent sales alone would not necessarily give CFIUS authority over deals like Chipuller’s acquisition of the zGlue patents.