Sony Seeks to Have Vizio QAM-Related DTV Patents Declared Invalid
As Vizio’s share of the LCD TV market has grown, so has the number of days it spends in court. In the latest skirmish involving the company, Sony sued Vizio, seeking to have QAM-related patents Vizio acquired from Motorola declared invalid. And Vizio fired a new round in its long legal battle with Funai, suing that company for infringing the same patents.
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
If your job depends on informed compliance, you need International Trade Today. Delivered every business day and available any time online, only International Trade Today helps you stay current on the increasingly complex international trade regulatory environment.
Sony filed suit May 13 in U.S. District Court, San Diego, seeking a court order that its products don’t infringe six patents that Vizio purchased from Motorola in April, Sony said in court papers. The patents, which were granted to General Instrument between 1993 and 1997, covered a range of QAM-related technology, including a method for coding 16 to 64 QAM transmissions to enable a low-cost implementation of a digital cable system. Another patent described a method for digital data transmission using trellis coded modulation (TCM). TCM was originally designed for the efficient data transmission over band-limited channels like telephone lines. Motorola acquired General Instrument in 2000.
The patents were apparently going to be used to file a counterclaim for infringement against Sony, which sued Vizio on patent-related grounds in U.S. District Court, Los Angeles, last fall, Sony said. A trial in that case is scheduled for Jan. 26, 2010, Sony said. Sony alleged last fall that Vizio is violating 14 patents issued between 1992 and 2008, covering a range of inventions including a means for displaying a standard TV signal on a widescreen set and a video data bus communication system and method, Sony said.
Vizio’s legal battle with Funai took another turn earlier this week when Vizio sued Funai in U.S. District Court, Alexandria, Va., for patent infringement. Laynie Newsome, Vizio vice president of sales and marketing communications, said in a statement that Vizio respects intellectual property rights and won’t “stand by while foreign competitors misappropriate our” patents. Vizio is seeking a court order barring Funai from importing TVs. Vizio is also asking for damages “in the millions” of dollars for patent infringement, the company said. A Funai spokesman wasn’t available for comment.
Funai has sued Vizio for infringement claiming it violated Funai’s'074 channel mapping patent, the same patent on which the International Trade Commission ruled in Funai’s favor last month. Vizio continues importing DTV sets under a 60-day presidential review period. A U.S. patent examiner in March ruled in Vizio’s favor, finding that earlier IP rendered Funai’s patent claims “obvious” (CED March 16 p4). Vizio also filed a petition with the FCC asking it to issue a temporary order requiring Funai provide a license under the ‘074 patent.