Recently Philips US alleged that GigaStorage and Princo have
infringed on six patents held by Philips regarding CD-R technology. A US judge
decided on October 24 that the patents were valid and infringed upon but
not enforceable due to patent misuse. Philips wasn't happy with this verdict and
requested a review of the decision. The US International Trade Commission
(ITC) on December 11 announced that it would conduct a review, with a final
decision to be reached in February or March.
 According to Eddie Fong, general manager of the Taiwan office of
Philips Intellectual Property & Standards, the ITC's review means that
it will specifically re-examine the patent misuse by Philips. In the
meantime, Philips will maintain its licensing policies to protect the
interests of the CD-R/CD-RW drive makers that pay royalties to the
company.
However, GigaStorage and Princo interpret the ITC review in a
different way. Misuse is use of a patent right beyond the lawful scope
rather than simply mistaken use of the right and therefore the owner is
not entitled to enforce the patent or recover any damage for infringement,
the two companies argued. Philips has the right to express its dissent to
the judgment by asking for a review by the ITC, but this is not a
substantial re-examination, the two companies emphasized. Based on
precedents, it is unlikely that a result of a two-year process would be
reversed after a two-month review, the two companies pointed
out. |
Read more on this issue on Digitimes.
Source: Digitimes.com
