Just a few days before Siemens subsidiary Infineon floats off to collect billions on the stock market, it has received a letter from m'learned friends representing Hyundai alleging patent infringement. Hyundai yesterday filed an action against Infineon US, Siemens Microelectronics, Siemens AG and Siemens Corporation, alleging that the co-defendants are breaching a number of its patents, including some involving DRAM technology. The large Korean conglomerate, which took LG Semiconductors into its corporate being last year, wants judges to ban Infineon from importing memory chips into the US. A brief statement from the company said that negotiations over intellectual property rights had failed, which was the reason for Hyundai having to take Infineon &c to court. No one was available from Infineon for comment at press time. ®