Tech Shout!

Japanese High-tech giant Toshiba is suing everyone! On April 6, Toshiba and Toshiba America Consumer Products filed a formal complaint with the International trade Commission (ITC) against 17 manufacturers and importers of DVD players, DVD recorders and other DVD-related products. Apparently, the electronics company has gone ahead with this as a means to halt infringement of Toshiba’s DVD patents.

The companies that were sued by Toshiba were mostly Chinese, Korean and Hong Kong based manufacturers who import DVD players, DVD recorders and other DVD related products into the US.

All suits were filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California on April 6. The action with the ITC was filed on the same day. Toshiba said in a statement that it has no licensing agreements with any of the companies named in the suit

The lawsuit included a demand for monetary damages payable to Toshiba from the companies that were sued.

This is what Toshiba said in a statement, “The infringement of Toshiba’s patents by these companies has damaged Toshiba’s DVD-related business, and also caused damage to the legitimate and licensed DVD product manufacturing and distribution and business as a whole.”

Toshiba licenses DVD patents, whereas the companies that are being sued such as Daewoo Electronics America (US) and Dongguan GVG Digital Technology (China) do not license patents. Thus Toshiba believed that the products manufactured by these companies were sold without permission.

The monetary damages sought by Toshiba are not being disclosed, and a company spokesperson has declined to elaborate on this issue. The companies involved in the suit have also declined to comment.