Thursday, July 29, 2010

Monday, July 26, 2010

DTV Patent War Watch (13)

Hitachi v. Vizio/TPV/Envision

On July 22, 2010, Hitachi Consumer Electronics Co. Ltd., and Hitachi Advanced Digital, Inc. sued Top Victory Electronics (Taiwan) Co. Ltd., TPV Int'l (USA), Inc., Envision Peripherals, Inc., Top Victory Electronics (Fujian) Co., Ltd., TPV Electronics (Fujian) Co. Ltd., TPV Technology Ltd., and Vizio, Inc. in the Eastern District of Texas (Case No. 2:10-cv-00260-TJW) for allegedly infringing Hitachi's patents on television receivers.

The asserted patents include U.S. Patent Nos. 5,534,934; 6,388,713; 6,549,243; 6,144,412; 6,037,995; 7,012,769; 7,286,310; and 5,502,497.

Hitachi’s lawsuit appears in response to an earlier patent infringement lawsuit filed by the defendants above (except Vizio) against Hitachi, Ltd. and Inpro Licensing Sarl on April 14, 2010 in the Northern District of California (Case No. 3:2010cv01579).

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

DTV Patent War Watch (12)

On July 16, 2010, Vizio, Inc. of Irvine, California (“Vizio”) filed a complaint before the United States International Trade Commission (ITC) requesting that the ITC commence an investigation under Section 337. The complaint alleges that LG Electronics, Inc. and LG Electronics U.S.A., Inc. have sold for importation, imported, and/or sold within the U.S. after importation certain flat panel digital televisions and components thereof that infringe certain claims of U.S. Patent Nos. 5,511,096, 5,621,761, 5,703,887, 5,745,522, 5,511,082, 5,396,518, and 5,233,629 (“Asserted Patents”).

Related Litigations:

(1) Each of the Asserted Patents are the subject of litigation in the United States District Court for Maryland, styled Vizio, Inc. vs. LG Electronics, Inc. and LG Electronics U.S.A., Inc., Case No. 09-cv-1481, filed on June 5, 2009. The case is currently in pretrial proceedings and no trial date has yet been set.

(2) The Asserted Patents were the subject of litigation in the United States District Court for the Central District of California, styled Vizio, Inc. v. Funai Electric Co., Ltd. and Funai Corp., Inc., Case 09-cv-05813, filed on May 20, 2009. The case has been settled.

(3) The Asserted Patents were the subject of litigation in the United States District Court for the Southern District of California, styled Sony Corp. and Sony Electronics, Inc. v. Vizio, Inc., Case 09-cv-Ol043, filed on May 13, 2009. The case has been settled.

Wednesday, July 7, 2010