Irvine, Calif. — In what has become a daily saga of the legal battles between rival TV makers Funai Electric and Vizio, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit granted Vizio’s request for an emergency stay on enforcing the U.S. International Trade Commission’s (ITC) order to stop importing TVs that infringe Funai patents, while the Federal Circuit considers a temporary stay on the matter as the appeal is heard.
“This is a significant first step in the appellate review process. We are confident that the Federal Circuit will reverse the ITC’s earlier determination and vindicate Vizio’s position in light of the recent final rejection of the ‘074 patent by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. The court’s action today serves as yet another affirmation that business is to be conducted as usual despite abusive and anti-competitive behavior from competitors,” stated Laynie Newsome, sales and marketing communications VP.
The ITC earlier determined that certain claims of U.S. Patent No. 6,115,074 (‘074) were valid and that certain Vizio television products contained chipsets having a feature that caused the chipsets to infringe those claims. A 60-day presidential review period of the ruling passed on Wednesday with President Obama opting not to intercede.
“Vizio believes that the claims of infringement leveled against it are meritless; indeed, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has issued a Final Rejection on reexamination of Funai’s ‘074 patent that has concluded that Funai’s patent claims are invalid,” Vizio said in a statement.
