RF Report has been following the battle between Vizio and Funai over patents for technology required by the ATSC standard. Bloomberg reported last Friday Funai Electric had won its case with the International Trade Commission and that Vizio would be banned from importing sets unless it posts a bond of $2.50 per television. The battle is not over as the case will be reviewed by an appeals court and the Obama administration.
A Vizio announcement on Friday said the company would continue shipping DTV sets during the Presidential review period and "will continue to pursue all legal remedies. Rob L. Brinkman, VIZIO vice president operations and administration, said, "Based on the recent final rejections by the USPTO of both the '369 and '074 Funai patents, we believe that the U.S. Court of Appeals will be mindful of the fact and will agree that there are substantial grounds for appeal of the ITC's ruling."
"Vizio intends to move and is moving aggressively on all possible avenues to protect its rights," said Layne Newsome, Vizio cofounder and vice president of sales and marketing communications. "Funai's failure to license its patents on reasonable and non-discriminatory basis is the subject of a lawsuit in federal district court in California as well as a complaint filed with the FCC. Even though the ITC has issued this limited exclusion order we believe that our appeal to the Federal Circuit will overturn the ruling with knowledge that the USPTO issued a second and final rejection of Funai's '074 patent just as they had done earlier with their '369 patent. While we appeal the ITC ruling with the Federal Circuit's U.S. Court of Appeals, we will continue to offer American's the best performance TVs at the best values. Even though we are committed to our policy to respect the rights of intellectual property holders, we will continue to thoroughly investigate all claims, and vigorously defend our legal rights when we feel a claim is invalid or not infringed."
