Zenith is going after several TV makers that it claims are infringing on its 8-VSB patents. The company, a subsidiary of Korea's LG Electronics, developed the eight-level trellis-coded vestigial side band technology that became the terrestrial DTV transmission standard in the United States.
In a suit filed April 4 in U.S. District Court in Texarkana, Texas, Zenith claims that a dozen of its patents were infringed upon by Funai, Westinghouse Digital, Polaroid and parent company, Petters Group, Vizio, Akai, APH USA and Syntax-Brillian.
According to the suit, Zenith wants the court to make the infringement stop, and award it three times the amount that the skirted license fees would have represented. It's also asking to be awarded attorney fees and other costs associated with the lawsuit.
A Zenith spokesman declined to comment on pending litigation as a matter of company policy.
Since the suit was filed, Syntax-Brillian, headquartered in Tempe, Ariz., has settled with Zenith, according to a report in TWICE.com. The same publication reported that Funai last month filed suit against some of the same defendants, also for patent infringement. In that case, Funai claimed Vizio, Petters and Syntax-Brillian were using a technology for which Funai held an exclusive license.
Funai, based Osaka, Japan, makes TVs under its own name, as well as Symphonic, Emerson and Sylvania.
CATEGORIES
LATEST ARTICLES