LG has filed a complaint with the U.S. International Trade Commission this week, asking the ITC to block the import of the Sony PlayStation 3.
The company is claiming that the Blu-ray drive in every PS3 console violates multiple LG patents.
Sony, Sony Corporation of America, Sony Electronics, Sony Computer Entertainment and Sony Computer Entertainment America are all cited in the complaint, says Cnet.
The patents in question relate to “the way a Blu-ray player reproduces data from a Blu-ray disc” and how it “reproduces multiple data streams by way of multiple camera angles.”
Finally, LG says Sony is violating a patent relating to the display of subtitles in Blu-ray films.
LG’s choice, over 1500 days after the PS3 launched in the U.S., seems like a direct retaliation for Sony’s complaint filed with the ITC late last year over patent violations in mobile phones.
Result for: retaliation
According to the Financial Times, Google Inc. is “99.9 percent” sure to shut down its Chinese search engine. The newspaper cited a source familiar with the situation in reporting that talks between Google and the Chinese government over censorship have reached an apparent impasse.
The report said that Google is likely to make a decision very soon but that it will take some time to follow through on its plans. The company would carry out an orderly closure to take steps to protect local employees from retaliation by authorities.
On Friday, China’s Minister of Industry and Information Technology, Li Yizhong, warned Google about its decision to stop censoring search results for Chinese users. “If you don’t respect Chinese laws, you are unfriendly and irresponsible, and the consequences will be on you,” he told reporters.
Google shocked the business world and ignited tension between the United States and China in January when it revealed that it would pull out of China if it would not offer unfiltered search results. The move came after Google was targeted by a cyber-attack sourced in China aimed at its Intellectual Property and the e-mail accounts of Chinese activists.
Result for: retaliation
In an effort to get back at the US for its interference with the small country’s internet gambling operations, Antigua is threatening to make US movie and music piracy legal, unless its grievances are “properly addressed and losses compensated for.”
In 2003, Antigua initially claimed that the US “unlawfully prevented its online gambling operators from accessing American markets although the US allowed domestic online bets for sporting events like horse racing.” At the time the country claimed $3.4 billion USD in losses and made a case with the World Trade Organization. It won the case but was only awarded $21 million USD.
Out of retaliation, Antigua is now threatening to allow (make legal)“virtually everything from pharmaceuticals to music, anything with IP protection that can be duplicated,” added Mark E. Mendel, who represents Antigua in the affair.
“It is not our preferred option to punish the MPAA or others for the U.S. government’s intransigence, but the U.S. has refused to negotiate fairly,” he said.
Mendel added that Antigua has been trying to work out a deal that would allow online gambling between the nations but that the US is being unreasonable and “using every possible appeal, counterattack and side attack it could think of. We’ve been through five separate full-blown WTO proceedings on this and have won every step of the way.”
In December 2007, the WTO ruled that “Antigua could exact damages by ignoring IP agreements with the U.S. should a negotiated settlement fail.” The US has yet to respond to the dispute.
[More]>>
