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SigmaTel, Inc. (NASDAQ:SGTL), the Austin, Texas-based market leader for portable MP3 player technologies, today officially filed a formal complaint with the International Trade Commission (ITC) against Actions Semiconductor, based in Zhuhai, Guangdong, China, seeking to halt the infringement of SigmaTel's intellectual property rights. SigmaTel asserts that Actions Semiconductor infringed multiple SigmaTel patents in the design of System-on-Chip controllers for the Portable Digital Music player market. Actions' products have recently begun shipping into the United States retail market as components of MP3 players. SigmaTel seeks to stop shipment of products into the U.S. that use Actions Semiconductor integrated circuits or "ICs."...

Designer and marketer of chips used in MP3 players plans to hire more engineers.By Kirk Ladendorf AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF Wednesday, April 21, 2004 A year ago, SigmaTel Inc. was pinching its pennies as it worked toward making a profit selling chips for portable MP3 music players. These days, the company, flush from proceeds from two public stock offerings, is solidly in the black and aiming to expand its engineering staff almost as quickly as it can find qualified candidates. "First you survive, and then you thrive," CEO Ron Edgerton said Tuesday. "We are thriving, and we expect to thrive even more...