Toshiba announced this morning that they've filed a lawsuit against the German DVD maker, EDD Bizz GmbH. According to Toshiba's press
release, EDD is infringing on their patents by manufacturing DVD's without a licensing agreement.
Toshiba Corporation
announced today that the Company filed a lawsuit in Germany against a German disc replicator of DVD discs on July 4, 2007. The suit was
brought to the Düsseldorf Regional Court against EDD Bizz GmbH (EDD) and its managing director, Mr. Denny Holwerda, as a means to halt
infringement of some of Toshiba's DVD patents. Toshiba seeks injunctive relief and declaration that EDD is liable for damages resulting
from its infringement of Toshiba's DVD patents.
Toshiba licenses patents essential for meeting DVD format specifications. EDD
has not entered into license agreements with Toshiba or the DVD6C Licensing Group, and has engaged in the manufacture and sales of DVD
video discs in Germany without permission. EDD's infringement of Toshiba's patents has damaged Toshiba's DVD-related business, and
also caused damage to the legitimate and licensed DVD product manufacturing and distribution business as a whole. In filing the lawsuit,
Toshiba prepares to recover monetary damages, and secure agreement from EDD to respect Toshiba's intellectual property rights in
future.
Toshiba isn't messing around when it comes to their patents. In April alone, they sued 17 companies over patent infringements. If you'd like to read
more, Toshiba's entire press release can be found here.
