LG Files Patent Suit Over TV Connection Technology

Ed Sperling of Electronic News reported today, February 15, 2007:

LG Electronics, based in Korea, filed a patent infringement suit in U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of Texas against TTE and TCL Holdings over technology that makes it easy to unpack a television, plug it in, and use it with any set-top box or service. These are technologies that most consumer electronics buyers take for granted, but LG claims these ease-of-use technologies have been patented.

TTE, based in Indianapolis but registered in Delaware, and TCL, based in Hong Kong and registered in the Cayman Islands, are both accused of misusing intellectual property that allow multiple formats to be played on a flat-panel display. Other patents in question allow remote diagnosis of a set-top box, the ability to automatically choose which channels are operative in a given system or area, and “remotely selectable audio/video/text disruption,” which allows commercial interruption of TV service, such as in a situation where the service is being rented.

LG is seeking punitive damages in the case.