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ITC rules Samsung infringed on four Sharp patents, bans import of some LCDs

by Donald Melanson posted Nov 10th 2009 at 11:52AM

The US International Trade Commission already ruled in June of this year that Samsung had infringed on one patent held by Sharp, but it's now back with another ruling that finds Samsung violated no less than four LCD-related patents held by its rival. Once again, the ITC has also barred Samsung from selling the infringing LCDs in the US (still not clear on exactly what's affected), but Samsung seems more than ready to comply with the ruling, saying that there will be "no impact on our business and our ability to meet market demand." For its part, Sharp simply says that the ruling has "made it clear that ITC has consistently supported Sharp's claim that LCD products of Samsung violated Sharp's patents" -- Samsung, meanwhile, says it has no plans to negotiate with Sharp on the issue, so let's just hope its workaround is more than a quick fix.

Sharp says ITC ban on LCD imports won't affect US consumers

by Nilay Patel posted Jun 25th 2009 at 4:01PM

We just spent some time talking to Sharp's reps about that ITC ban on its LCD panels, and while they certainly didn't sound happy about the ruling, they made it clear that it shouldn't have too much of an effect on US consumers -- Aquos TVs and Sharp professional LCD displays currently on shelves are fine to be sold, and updated models have been hitting the channel as of last month. As you'd expect, the new displays have been re-engineered to workaround the Samsung patent in question, but here's where it gets confusing: the basic model numbers haven't changed. Instead, the new units have an "N" at the end, so a TV like the Aquos LC52-E77U will now be labeled LC52-E77UN. Sharp says the updated models have exactly the same specs as the outgoing ones, but we're waiting on a detailed list of spec changes -- or better, a side-by-side comparison -- so we can decide whether or not the HDTV equivalents of a pre-CBS Fender are floating around out there.

Update: Sharp hit us back with some revised information, so we've changed the post slightly.

Sharp LCD panels banned from US import until further notice

by Nilay Patel posted Jun 24th 2009 at 4:17PM Breaking News


Chalk up another huge win for Samsung in its long-running patent dispute with Sharp: the US International Trade Commission has just issued a ruling banning importation of Sharp LCD panels that infringe one of Samsung's viewing-angle patents. As you might imagine, the ban covers a wide swath of Sharp's consumer products, including the Aquos TV line, but it's not clear on how it'll affect other companies that use Sharp panels -- this ruling could potentially have a huge impact on the entire tech market. On the other hand, we'd bet that Sharp's lawyers are furiously putting together a request to have the ban delayed while an appeal is sorted out, so this is far from over -- in fact, we'd say the real fireworks are just beginning.

Little old lady suing Sony, Samsung, Nokia and everyone else for infringing on her laser patents

by Thomas Ricker posted Mar 21st 2008 at 5:47AM Breaking News

Oh sure, she looks friendly enough. But don't let her matronly, argyle looks fool you. Retired Columbia University Professor, Gertrude Neumark Rothschild, is looking to extract some cold, hard cash from a who's who of Consumer Electronics giants. Otherwise, they can forget about importing their goods into the US. Rothschild's complaint filed with the US International Trade Commission (ITC) on February 20th claims that some 30 companies are violating a patent she owns for light-emitting and laser diodes. Today, the ITC has agreed to investigate the matter. It's worth noting that Rothschild has already successfully tested the legislative waters with lawsuits against Philips and others -- the Philips matter was settled out of court earlier this month. In other words, her case has legs. Still, we have very little confidence in the ITC's grasp of the matter when they name "HD DVD players (e.g., Blu-ray disc players)" as products to be probed. Full list of companies named in the complaint after the break.

[Via Reuters and mrontemp]

Continue reading Little old lady suing Sony, Samsung, Nokia and everyone else for infringing on her laser patents





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