The US International Trade Commission (ITC) is investigating whether printers and computer systems made by Hewlett-Packard infringe patents belonging to rival firm Acer.

An ITC statement issued last week and released by Acer on Monday, said the investigation was based on a complaint filed by Taiwan's Acer on 30 October. The complaints involve innovations related to personal computers, servers and peripheral devices.

HP, the world's top PC seller, sued Acer in March for patent infringement, aiming to stop the Taiwan firm from selling some products in the United States.

In July, Acer countersued the US firm for patent infringement.