Japan's Murata sues South Korea's SEMCO on patents

TOKYO, Oct 2 (Reuters) - Japanese electronic parts maker Murata Manufacturing (6981.OS) (6981.T) is seeking to block imports, sale and production of Samsung Electro-Mechanics Co's (SEMCO) (009150.KS) ceramic capacitors in the U.S.

Murata, the world's largest maker of ceramic capacitors, filed a complaint with the U.S. International Trade Commission and a legal suit at the Central District Court of California on Thursday, saying that its South Korean rival violated its patents on the tiny components, filings showed.

Ceramic capacitors are used to control the electricity flow in electronic products ranging from cellphones, game consoles and flat TVs to PCs.

Murata, whose Japanese rivals include Kyocera Corp (6971.T) and TDK Corp (6762.T), is increasingly competing with low-cost products from Samsung Electro-Mechanics and Taiwan's Yageo Corp (2327.TW).

Officials at SEMCO, whose clients include Samsung Electronics (005930.KS), were not immediately available for comment. (Reporting by Mayumi Negishi; Editing by Joseph Radford)