10
Nov
By Eric Schweibenz
On November 9, 2009, the International Trade Commission issued a notice of Final Commission Determination of Violation; Issuance of a Limited Exclusion Order and Cease and Desist Orders; and Termination of the Investigation in Certain Liquid Crystal Display Modules, Products Containing Same, and Methods Using the Same (Inv. No. 337-TA-634).

By way of background, the Complainant in this investigation is Sharp Corporation (“Sharp”) and the Respondents are Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., Samsung Electronics America, Inc. (“SEAI”), and Samsung Semiconductor, Inc. (“SSI”) (collectively, “Samsung”).  The Commission instituted this investigation based on a March 4, 2008 complaint filed by Sharp alleging violations of Section 337 based on the importation into the U.S., the sale for importation, and the sale within the U.S. after importation of certain liquid crystal display devices, products containing same, and methods for using the same by reason of infringement of certain claims of U.S. Patent Nos. 6,879,364 (the ‘364 patent); 6,952,192 (the ‘192 patent); 7,304,703 (the ‘703 patent); and 7,304,626 (the ‘626 patent).  On June 12, 2009, Chief ALJ Paul J. Luckern issued an Initial Determination (“ID”) finding violation of Section 337.  See our June 16 and August 7 posts for more details.  On September 9, 2009, the Commission issued a notice of its determination not to review the ID and requested written submissions on the issues of remedy, the public interest, and bonding.  See our September 11 post for more details.

In the November 9 notice, the Commission determined “that the appropriate form of relief is both 1) a limited exclusion order prohibiting the unlicensed entry of LCD devices, including display panels and modules, and products containing the same that infringe one or more of (i) claims 5-7 of the ‘364 patent; (ii) claims 1 and 4 of the ‘192 patent; (iii) claims 1-2, 6-8, 13-14, and 16-17 of the ‘703 patent; and (iv) claims 10, 17, and 20 of the ‘626 patent, where the infringing LCD devices are manufactured abroad by or on behalf of, or are imported by or on behalf of, related business entities, or successors or assigns; and (2) cease and desist orders prohibiting [SEAI] and [SSI] from conducting any of the following activities in the United States:  importing, selling, marketing, advertising, distributing, offering for sale, transferring (except for exportation), and soliciting U.S. agents or distributors for, LCD devices, including display panels and modules, and products containing the same that infringe one or more of (i) claims 5-7 of the ‘364 patent; (ii) claims 1 and 4 of the ‘192 patent; (iii) claims 1-2, 6-8, 13-14, and 16-17 of the ‘703 patent; and (iv) claims 10, 17, and 20 of the ‘626 patent.”

The Commission also determined in the November 9 notice that the public interest factors do not preclude issuance of the limited exclusion order or the cease and desist order.  Finally, the Commission determined that 100 percent bond of the entered value of the covered products is required to permit temporary importation during the Presidential review period.