Sharp demands US investigation of LCD makers

JAPANESE DISPLAY MAKER Sharp thinks that a whole bunch of LCD manufacturers are being very naughty when they import their products, not into Japan, but into the USA.

Oddly Samsung is not named in the long list of companies, despite it having had the US International Trade Commission (ITC) investigate Sharp over LCDs in 2007.

The companies that are facing investigation are AU Optronics, Benq, Haier, LG, Sanyo, TCL, TTE Technology and Vizio.

Sharp complained to the ITC on 24 January that the firms were infringing its patents and the US regulator has decided an investigation is worthwhile.

The products at issue are LCD modules and panels, televisions and monitors. If successful all those companies' LCD products could be banned from the US market until they change their ways.

LG is not having much luck lately, as Sony asked the ITC to investigate it last December for patent infringement. Corporations love the ITC and regularly use it to start legal dustups with each other. The INQUIRER thinks they need to find something else for their expensive lawyers to do, or better yet, lay off a few dozen of them each and reduce prices. µ