MPEG LA announced this week that they have filed a lawsuit against the
consumer electronics company, Audiovox. According to the MPEG LA's press release, Audiovox failed to report fully its manufacture or
sale of products that use the MPEG-2 or IEEE 1394 (FireWire) standards. MPEG LA also alleges that Audiovox failed to make full payments
related to these products and would not allow an audit as permitted by contract.
MPEG LA, LLC, world leader in alternative
one-stop patent licenses, today announced that it has commenced an action against Audiovox Electronics Corporation (“Audiovox”) for
breach of contractual obligations as a Licensee to MPEG LA’s MPEG-2 Patent Portfolio License (the “MPEG-2 Contract”) and 1394 Patent
Portfolio License (the “1394 Contract”).
According to the complaint filed in the Supreme Court of the State of New York, Audiovox
has breached its contractual obligations by failing to report fully its manufacture or sale of products such as DVD players and digital
TVs that use the MPEG-2 digital video compression standard or employ the high-speed transfer digital interface provided for in the IEEE
1394 standard, failing to make full payments for its manufacture or sale of such products, and refusing to allow an audit as permitted by
the MPEG-2 Contract and 1394 Contract (collectively, “the Contracts”).
MPEG LA is seeking monetary damages, an account
of all products that fall under the contracts and an injunction prohibiting Audiovox from manufacturing or selling MPEG-2 and 1394
products. Full details can be found here.
