The U.S. International Trade Commission(ITC) has launched an investigation into alleged violation of patents by Samsung Electronics of its chip industry.
 
The ITC said on Sunday that it launched the probe on October 31st into certain wafer-level packaging semiconductor devices and products containing them. 
 
The ITC probe came in response to a complaint recently filed by Tessera Advanced Technologies Inc, which requested an investigation of Samsung Electronics' alleged infringement of two semiconductor patents. 
 
Tessera also asked the ITC to exclude infringing wafer-level packaged semiconductor devices and products containing them from import, such as the power management IC chips used in Samsung's flagship Galaxy and Note smartphones.
 
The ITC plans to select a judge to handle the case and set the deadline of the probe soon. 
 
Under existing rules, the ITC can issue a ban on importing products that infringe U.S. patents.