Texas Instruments Inc. v. United States
| Decision Date | 29 June 1979 |
| Docket Number | C.D. 4810,Court No. 77-4-00580. |
| Citation | 82 Cust. Ct. 272,475 F. Supp. 1183 |
| Parties | TEXAS INSTRUMENTS INC., Plaintiff, v. UNITED STATES, Defendant. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Customs and Patent Appeals (CCPA) |
Barbara Allen Babcock, Asst. Atty. Gen., Washington, D. C. (David M. Cohen, Director, Commercial Litigation Branch, New York City; Sheila N. Ziff, Trial Atty., New York City), for defendant.
The merchandise concerning which the within cause of action relates was imported by the plaintiff from El Salvador and entered at the Port of Dallas/Fort Worth on August 2, 1976, for incorporation and use in solid-state electronic digital watches. Upon liquidation said merchandise was classified by the District Director of Customs at Houston, Texas, under item 720.75, TSUS, modified by T.D. 68-9, as assemblies or subassemblies for watch movements consisting of two or more parts joined together, providing:
Schedule 7, Part 2, Subpart E
Assemblies and subassemblies for watch movements
consisting of two or more parts or
pieces fastened or joined together
* * * * * * *
720.75 Other assemblies and
subassemblies ... 4.5¢ for each jewel
(if any) + the column
1 rate specified
in item 720.65
for bottom or pillar
plates or their
equivalent therein
(if any) + 1¢ for
each other part or
piece therein (if
any), but the total
duty on the assembly
or subassembly
shall not
exceed the column
1 duty for the
complete movement
for which
suitable, nor be less
than 22.5% ad val
unless said 22.5
percent rate exceeds
the column 1
duty for the complete
movement
The plaintiff contends that the merchandise in issue is properly classifiable under item 687.60, TSUS, modified by T.D. 68-9, as transistors and other related electronic crystal components, providing:
Schedule 6, Part 5
Electronic tubes (except X-ray tubes); photocells
transistors and other related electronic
crystal components; mounted piezoelectric crystals
all the foregoing and parts thereof:
Television picture tubes:
* * * * * * *
687.60 Other ..................... 6% ad val.
In its answer to the plaintiff's complaint, the defendant raised two alternative affirmative defenses. In so doing, the defendant alleges that in the event the subject merchandise is found to be not properly classified under item 720.75, TSUS, then, and in that event, the subject merchandise should be classified under item 720.82, TSUS.
The foregoing alternative claim, however, has been abandoned by the defendant. A second alternative claim of the defendant asserts that the merchandise is properly classifiable under item 720.86, TSUS, providing:
Schedule 7, Part 2
Assemblies and subassemblies for clock movements,
consisting of two or more parts or
pieces fastened or joined together:
* * * * * * *
Other assemblies and subassemblies:
* * * * * * *
720.86 For other movements .. 16% ad val. +
6.25¢ for each
jewel (if any)
+ 0.75¢ for
each other
piece or part
At the time of the trial of the within action, respective counsel, within the approval of the court, entered into the following stipulations:
From the testimony introduced by both the plaintiff and the defendant in the within proceeding, it appears to be undisputed that the merchandise in question consists of a monolithic integrated circuit chip, commonly referred to as an IC chip, which has been affixed to a frame or substrate permitting its encapsulation for subsequent use as a component of the module in a solid-state digital watch. Before proceeding to the basic issue before this court as to the proper classification of the subject merchandise, an elementary understanding with respect to the manner in which the subject article is manufactured and/or processed, its function as well as its relationship to other components ultimately comprising the module used in a solid-state digital watch, would appear to be not only salutary, but a necessary preface.
A definition of a monolithic integrated circuit chip in its simplest form may be found in the testimony of Mr. Jack Kilby, who invented this article or device in 1958 and received a patent thereon in 1964:
A monolithic integrated circuit chip is a silicon wafer in or on which electronic components, such as transistors, diodes, resistors and capacitors have been formed and interconnected to perform a desired function. R. 535.
With respect to the meaning of the term monolithic, the witness testified:
* * * "monolithic" refers to those circuits which are formed entirely in or on a single chip or wafer of semiconductor material. R. 541.
Silicon may be classified as one of the most commonly used semiconductor materials and is best characterized in the semiconductor industry as possessing the ability to conduct electricity under certain conditions. Accordingly, the process designed to create the integrated circuit chip is initiated by slicing a thin piece or wafer from a large cylindrical shaped bar of crystal silicon. After polishing, the silicon slice is subjected to a complex series of high temperature and photolithographic processes thereby causing a multitude of identical miniscule squares to be defined thereon, each of said squares being commonly referred to as a chip.1 Through the application of photosensitive materials, the establishment of a geometric pattern, the introduction of chemicals and the further application of high temperatures, certain elements consisting of transistors, diodes and resistors are built within each defined chip comprising the silicon slice. In an evaporation process aluminum metal is allowed to cover the entire silicon slice. Again, after a further photolithographic process by which an interconnecting pattern is established followed by an etching away of a portion of the aluminum surface, there is thereby developed a metal pattern that interconnects the transistors, diodes and resistors built within each of the individual chips.
The process by which the integrated circuit chip is created as hereinbefore described is effected at the plant of the plaintiff at Sherman, Texas. Upon completion, the integrated circuit chips together with specifications and quality control documents are transmitted to the facility of the plaintiff in El Salvador for further processing. In the latter country, the individual integrated circuit chip is attached to a lead frame or substrate in order to provide a mechanical adherence. Around the periphery of each chip, small metal pads are located from which fine gold wires measuring 1,000th of an inch in diameter are attached to the lead frame substrate by means of heat and compression, thereby providing a connection from the chip to the external portion of the frame. The integrated circuit chip as affixed to the lead frame is encapsulated in a plastic mold providing protection from the environment, and further providing certain recesses or cavities therein for the subsequent accommodation of a quartz crystal, a capacitor, batteries and a light emitting diode display. It is in this form that the merchandise in question is returned and entered into the United States.
As the merchandise in question, the quartz crystal, the capacitor, and the display element are subsequently assembled by the plaintiff in its facilities within the United States, the unit becomes collectively known as a module ready for the fitting within a watchcase and acceptance of batteries.
In its determination of the issues involved herein, the court deems it sufficient to recognize without further amplification the presumption of correctness that attaches to the determination made by the District Director of Customs, as well as the burden incumbent upon the plaintiff to overcome this presumption and to prove otherwise. 28 U.S.C. § 2635(a). The court is of the opinion that the plaintiff has met this burden and has established...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
D & M WATCH CORP. v. US
...among other things, that a quartz analogue watch or "QAW" does contain a watch movement when viewed in the light of Texas Instruments Inc. v. United States, 82 Cust.Ct. 272, C.D. 4810, 475 F.Supp. 1183 (1979), aff'd, 67 CCPA 59, 620 F.2d 269 (1980), Texas Instruments Inc. v. United States, ......
-
Belfont Sales Corp. v. US
...a finding that a quartz analogue watch or "QAW" does contain a watch movement, when viewed in the light of Texas Instruments, Inc. v. United States, 82 Cust.Ct. 272, C.D. 4810, 475 F.Supp. 1183 (1979), aff'd, 620 F.2d 269, 67 CCPA 59 (1980); Texas Instruments Inc. v. United States, 82 Cust.......
-
EM Chemicals v. US
...The court finds Intercontinental Air Freight, Inc. v. United States, 62 Cust.Ct. 214, C.D. 3731 (1969), and Texas Instruments, Inc. v. United States, 82 Cust.Ct. 287, C.D. 4811, 475 F.Supp. 1183 (1979), aff'd, 67 CCPA 59, C.A.D. 1244, 620 F.2d 269 (1980), to be dispositive. In Intercontinen......
-
Marcel Watch Co. v. US, Court No. 83-11-01578.
...among other things, that a quartz analogue watch or "QAW" does contain a watch movement when viewed in the light of Texas Instruments Inc. v. United States, 82 Cust.Ct. 272, C.D. 4810, 475 F.Supp. 1183 (1979), aff'd, 620 F.2d 269 (CCPA 1980), Texas Instruments Inc. v. United States, 82 Cust......