VIZIO announced today that the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California has denied attempts by Funai Electric Company, Ltd. to delay the prompt resolution of VIZIO's claims that Funai is unlawfully restraining trade, misusing its patent rights and monopolizing the marketplace for digital television technology.
In the patent suit, which was filed in February, VIZIO alleges that Funai unlawfully acquired the rights to U.S. patent No. 6,115,074 (the "'074 patent"), which is subject to a standards setting organization overseeing digital television manufacturers, and has since, "unlawfully and unfairly discriminated against VIZIO in the licensing and enforcement." The suit claims an antitrust violation.
The court's ruling this week holds that the antitrust claims should not be stalled, and instead the judge ruled that VIZIO's antitrust claims should move forward without delay.
"VIZIO, as America's HDTV Company, has been at the forefront of making high quality flat panel TVs more affordable for Americans. We are pleased that the court recognized the importance of our antitrust claims and denied Funai's attempt to delay our efforts to prove our case. We cannot allow a foreign competitor to misuse its patent and monopolize the marketplace, or to divert us from our mission to bring affordable, high quality HDTVs to Americans," stated Laynie Newsome, VIZIO co-founder and Vice President of Sales & Marketing Communications.
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