28
Jun
By Eric Schweibenz
On June 27, 2011, AU Optronics Corporation of Taiwan and AU Optronics Corporation America of Milpitas, California (collectively, “AUO”) filed a complaint requesting that the ITC commence an investigation pursuant to Section 337.

The complaint alleges that Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. of Korea and Samsung Electronics America, Inc. of Ridgefield Park, New Jersey (collectively, “Samsung”), AT&T, Inc. of Dallas, Texas, Best Buy Co., Inc. of Richfield, Minnesota, and BrandsMart USA, Inc. of Hollywood, Florida (all collectively, the “Proposed Respondents”) unlawfully import into the U.S., sell for importation, and/or sell within the U.S. after importation certain flat panel display devices and products containing the same that infringe one or more claims of U.S. Patent Nos. 6,281,955 (the ‘955 patent), 7,697,093 (the ‘093 patent), 7,286,192 (the ‘192 patent), 6,818,967 (the ‘967 patent), 7,199,854 (the ‘854 patent), and 7,663,729 (the ‘729 patent) (collectively, the “asserted patents”).

According to the complaint, the asserted patents generally relate to flat panel display technology.  In particular, the ‘955 patent relates to novel structures and techniques for liquid crystal display (“LCD”) devices to obtain excellent picture quality of color images, reduced assembly defects, and high production yields.  The ‘093 patent relates to novel structures for improving the display quality of LCDs by improving the color wash out problem under wide viewing angles and preventing light leakage from occurring.  The ‘192 patent relates to novel structures for improving the viewing quality of LCDs.  The ‘967 patent relates to low temperature poly-silicon thin-film transistors (“TFTs”) fabricated by novel techniques.  The ‘854 patent relates to novel structures and techniques to simplify grounding apparatus used for grounding printed circuit boards (“PCBs”) of an LCD, which can also save time needed to assemble the grounding apparatus with PCB.  Lastly, the ‘729 patent relates to novel techniques for arranging photo spacers in a flat display device, such as an LCD panel.

In the complaint, AUO alleges that the Proposed Respondents import and sell products that infringe the asserted patents.  The complaint specifically refers to a Samsung 46” LCD television, the Samsung AT&T Captivate smartphone, and a Samsung 10.1” laptop LCD screen model as infringing products.

Regarding domestic industry, AUO states that certain AUO TV Modules, Phone Modules, and Notebook Modules practice the asserted patents in the U.S.  As to the economic prong, AUO states that it has made significant investments in facilities and in employment of labor and capital for the repair and maintenance of its products and for customer support engineering in the U.S.  AUO further states that it has made, and is contractually bound to continue to make, substantial investments in the exploitation of the asserted patents in the U.S.

As to related litigation, AUO states that the ‘955 and ‘093 patents are currently the subject of a declaratory judgment action that was filed by Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. on June 1, 2011 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.  AUO further alleges that, concurrently with the filing of the instant ITC complaint, it has filed a civil action against the Proposed Respondents in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California alleging infringement of the ‘955 and ‘093 patents, as well as other patents not asserted in the ITC.  AUO additionally states that, also concurrently with the filing of the instant ITC complaint, it has filed another civil action against the Proposed Respondents in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware alleging infringement of the ‘192, ‘729, ‘967, and ‘854 patents.

With respect to potential remedy, AUO requests that the Commission issue a permanent exclusion order and a permanent cease and desist order directed at the Proposed Respondents.