PS3 Patent Infringement Case To Receive ITC Review

The U.S. International Trade Commission announced today it will investigate a patent infringement claim regarding the PlayStation 3 filed by Taiwanese LCD manufacturer Chimei Innolux Corp. The complaint [PDF], which was also filed in Arkansas and Delaware earlier this year, alleges that Sony's console infringes on a Chimei patent regarding the use of certain memory caching technologies. The case comes as part of a series of complaints filed by Chimei over technologies used in the production of displays on Sony's Bravia LCD TVs and VAIO notebook computers. Chimei is seeking to block import of the Sony products into the U.S. from their production plants in Mexico, Japan and China. Sony has filed a countervailing complaint [PDF] against Chimei for infringement of patents involving televised menu displays, which the ITC is scheduled to hear in January. Chimei has faced other legal problems recently in the form of an international price fixing scandal and further patent infringement cases regarding its production of LCD screens.