San Francisco - Taipei-based company Elan Microelectronics has sued Apple for the alleged infringement of two of its touch screen patents in the iconic US technology company's iPhone and other devices.

The suit was filed Tuesday in the US District Court in San Francisco, close to Apple's Silicon Valley headquarters, court papers posted Wednesday showed.

Elan, which makes touchpads, claims it owns the patents covering the touch screen technology that has helped the iPhone, MacBook and other Apple products become huge hits.

Taipei  - Taiwan's mobile phone sales were forecast to drop 9.3 per cent in 2009 because of weakened replacement demand and an extended replacement cycle, an industry report said Wednesday.

Sales were estimated at 6.39 million units by Taiwan's Market Intelligence and Consulting Institute, which called 2009 a crucial year for Taiwan mobile phone operators in terms of strengthening their share in the mobile internet market.

Taipei  - After fighting communism for half a century, Taiwan has allowed the formation of two communist parties on the island, a newspaper reported Wednesday.

According to the Taipei Times, two communist parties - the Taiwan Communist Party and the Republic of China Communist Party - registered with the Interior Ministry and won approval for their existence Monday, thus becoming legal civic organizations.

Taipei - Taiwan's exports dropped 35.7 per cent in March year-on-year as demand declined amid the global downturn, the Finance Ministry said Tuesday.

Exports slipped to 15.59 billion US dollars in March, down 8.65 billion US dollars, or 35.7 per cent, from a year earlier, registering a decline for the seventh straight month, the ministry said in a statement.

Taipei - Taiwan's year-on-year inflation rate contracted for the second consecutive month to 0.15 per cent in March, due mainly to the fall in oil prices, the government's statistics agency said Monday.

"Compared with the same month last year, oil product prices in March dropped considerably, resulting in the general fall of consumer prices," said Wu Chao-ming, a spokesman of the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics.