Philips sues TCL again, this time over 4K TVs
Dutch multinational conglomerate Philips sued TCL yesterday, February 12, accusing the Chinese manufacturer of infringing three patents through the sale of its 4K TVs.
In the complaint, filed at the US District Court for the Central District of California, Philips accused TCL of refusing its numerous offers to license the allegedly infringed patents, which cover backlights and streaming protection technology.
“TCL’s past and continuing sales of its devices i) wilfully infringe Philips’s asserted patents and ii) impermissibly take the significant benefits of Philips’s patented technologies without compensation to Philips,” said the claim.
Philips said that it has sent multiple communications to TCL concerning the patent infringement since 2012, including letters to top management at TCL, but the Chinese maker has not provided any response.
“Instead of curtailing its infringement, TCL has increased its infringement since learning of the asserted patents and commencing its infringement,” added Philips.
Now, Philips is seeking monetary damages to compensate it for the infringement. According to the Dutch company, the precise amount of damages will be determined through discovery in this litigation and proven at trial.
Philips has also requested a permanent injunction and a compulsory future royalty.
Earlier this week, WIPR reported on another licensing dispute between the pair in France.
In a decision which lawyers said would make France the ‘logical’ venue for fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory (FRAND) licence disputes, the Paris High Court concluded it had jurisdiction to hear a standard-essential patent licensing clash between Philips and TCL.
A spokesperson for Philips said the company "expects third parties to respect Philips’ IP rights in the same way as Philips respects IP rights of others".
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