Freescale files claim against MediaTek, Zoran – again

LONDON – Freescale Semiconductor Inc. has filed a complaint with the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) accusing MediaTek Inc., Zoran Corp., and others of patent infringement, the ITC has said by way of an online posting of pending complaints.

Zoran (Sunnyvale, Calif.) is in the process of being acquired by CSR plc (Cambridge, England) for about $484 million.

Freescale (Austin, Texas) alleges that MediaTek (Hsinchu, Taiwan), Zoran and others have infringed on Freescale's IC, chipset and other components used in televisions. Other cited respondents included television makers and subsidiaries and others involved in shipping televisions into the United States including Vizio Inc., Sanyo Electric Co. Ltd. and Top Victory Electronics.

Freescale has requested that the commission institute an investigation into the alleged patent infringement.

This is not the first time that Freescale has filed a complaint with the ITC against MediaTek and Zoran. In July Freescale also asked the ITC to investigate MediaTek and Zoran along with television maker Funai Electric Co. Ltd.

However, the action is unlikely to have any immediate impact on MediaTek, Zoran or CSR. Such ITC claims can be pending for 16 months. Freescale's earlier filing against MediaTek, Zoran and Funai has a target date of Nov. 13, 2012.


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