EL SEGUNDO, CA -- After a decline in the second quarter of 2013 and a tepid expansion in the third, demand for touch-screen panels used in notebook PCs is set to rebound to double-digit growth during the last three months of the year. Shipments of touch panels for notebooks will amount to 4.9 million sheets in the fourth quarter, up 10% from 4.4 million in the third quarter, according to data from IHS. This follows a marginal 2% increase in the third quarter and a 5% drop in the second.

NAMPA, ID -- Plexus plans to spend $3 million to upgrade its manufacturing facility here. Improvements to the Boise Microelectronics Center of Excellence should be complete by the end of April.

DUBLIN -- Global consumer electronics sales are expected to reach $1.6 trillion by 2018 and will remain strong over the next five years, driven by rising demand in Asia and other emerging countries.

DUBLIN -- The medical electronics market is expected to reach $372.4 billion by 2018, driven by medical therapeutics and imaging systems, a new study says. Research and Markets says those two segments account for approximately 52.9% of the market and are expected to support the medical electronics industry going forward.

GLASGOW, SCOTLAND, UK — A new used SMT equipment seller has joined the scene here. EvolviSMT Ltd. held its official launch at Productronica last month.

WASHINGTON – The US House today passed legislation to reform the patent system, aiming to stop broadly written patents and so-called “trolls” who submit applications in the hopes of later capitalizing on hefty licensing fees.

ATLANTA, GA – UP Media Group seeks abstracts for PCB West 2014, to be held Sept. 9-11, 2014, in Santa Clara, CA. The event includes a three-day technical conference and one-day exhibition to be held at the Santa Clara (CA) Convention Center.

ALEXANDRIA, VA -- A quartet of Samsung engineers have been issued a US patent for a molded underfill flip chip package in which a semiconductor chip is mounted on a printed circuit board through bumps. The invention will prevent or reduce warpage and voids in the semiconductor package so as to increase reliability of the semiconductor package, the inventors said in the patent filing.

NEW YORK – An undercover investigation by a prominent human rights group has found labor rights violations ranging from unpaid and excessive overtime to verbal and physical abuse at a China-based supplier to Samsung. The report, issued this week by China Labor Watch, details such violations as $84,000 of monthly unpaid overtime wages, up to 148 hours of overtime per month, intense rates of work that have workers assembling one cellphone case every four seconds, regular verbal abuse by management, forcing workers to work barefoot, fines imposed on workers, and insufficient safety training and safety measures.

WASHINGTON – Global semiconductor sales were $27.06 billion in October, up 7.2% year-over-year, and up 0.8% sequentially, says the Semiconductor Industry Association. October marked the eighth consecutive month of growth in sales and the industry’s first-ever month above $27 billion in sales, the firm says.

ATLANTA, GA – CIRCUITS ASSEMBLY today announced Lightspeed Manufacturing as its EMS Company of the Year for 2013. The distinction is bestowed annually on EMS companies that have demonstrated profitability and sustained excellence among their peers.

SAN JOSE -- Semiconductor fabrication equipment spending will decline about 9% to about $32.5 billion in 2013 as third-quarter demand fell more than expected. 2014 sales are expected to rebound in a big way, however.