Toshiba announced today that they've filed a lawsuit against the Italian DVD maker, ACME S.p.A. According to Toshiba's press
release, ACME is infringing on their patents by manufacturing DVD video discs without a licensing agreement.
Toshiba
Corporation announced today that the Company filed a lawsuit in Italy against an Italian disc replicator of DVD discs on December 27,
2007. The suit was brought to the District Court of Milan - Specialised IP Chamber against ACME S.p.A. (ACME), as a means to halt
infringement a Toshiba’s DVD patent. Toshiba seeks injunctive relief and declaration that ACME is liable for damages resulting from its
infringement of Toshiba’s DVD patent.
Toshiba licenses patents essential for meeting DVD format specifications.1 ACME has not
entered into license agreements with Toshiba or the DVD6C Licensing Group2, and has engaged in the manufacture and sales of DVD video
discs in Italy without permission. Toshiba contends that ACME’s infringement of Toshiba’s patent 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 to secure an agreement from ACME to respect Toshiba’s intellectual
property rights in future.
If you'd like to read more, Toshiba's entire press release can be found here.
