Catching up: Irvine’s Vizio Inc., which has been fighting pesky rivals who seek ‘unfair’ license fees, announced a big move over the weekend: It sued LG Electronics for infringing on its patents.

Vizio also won a small battle against Funai Electric Company, a rival that sells Emerson, Sylvania and Symphonic HDTVs.

Vizio filed its lawsuit on Friday against Korea’s LG Electronics in the U. S. District Court for the District of Maryland alleging that “LG infringes on numerous Vizio patents in its manufacturing, importation and distribution of certain products including high definition televisions,” according to Vizio.

The Irvine company wants LG to stop and seeks an injunction prohibiting LG from importing and selling infringing HDTVs. Vizio also seeks damages for past alleged infringing sales.

As DigiTimes reports, LG first sued Vizio last year for patent infringement. Vizio, which became the top seller of LCD HDTVs in the U.S. earlier this year, said that it has been unfairly targeted for patent fees because of its success.

Separately, a U.S. District Court for the Central District of California denied Funai’s attempt to delay an antitrust lawsuit claiming Funai unlawfully restrains trade, misuses its patent rights and monopolizes the marketplace for digital TV technology. Vizio, which filed the lawsuit in February, also claims Funai unlawfully acquired the rights to U.S. patent No. 6,115,074, a digital TV patent.

Vizio has called the fees excessive and unfair because it is one of the few HDTV sellers that Funai is targeting. Such fees could add up to $30 per TV, a cost that Vizio would have to pass on to the consumer (see earlier: “Vizio TVs could be $30 cheaper.”)

“We are pleased that the court recognized the importance of our antitrust claims and denied Funai’s attempt to delay our efforts to prove our case. We cannot allow a foreign competitor to misuse its patent and monopolize the marketplace, or to divert us from our mission to bring affordable, high quality HDTVs to Americans,” Laynie Newsome, a Vizio co-founder and vice president of sales and marketing, said in a statement.

More from the web:
Vizio files TV patent suit against LG in U.S. (Reuters)

Vizio Sues LG For Patent Infringement (Twice)

Vizio files patent lawsuit against LG (DigiTimes)

Past Gadgetress stories about Vizio:

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