Court Ruling Clears Way for Canon SED TVs
August 07, 2008 | by Geoff Duncan
After lawsuits delayed the technology for over a year and a half, an appeals court ruling has cleared the way for Canon to resume work on SED televisions.
Remember way back when Nano-Proprietary (now Applied Nanotech Holdings) sued Canon over the makup of its SED TV joint venture with Toshiba, claiming the corporate arrangement means SED TV wasn't a Canon subsidiary and, therefore, the company didn't have license to Nano-Proprietary technology central to SED TVs? Canon responded by completely taking over the joint venture with Toshiba, but the damage was already done: Canon lost the lawsuit in early 2007 and delayed the launch of SED TV technology a few months later.
However, the battle has continued to wend its way through the courts, and an appeals court ruled last week (PDF) that, since Canon is now the sole owner of SED TV, Inc., Canon had not broken its deal with Nano-Proprietary. The decision also re-instated Canon's license to key SED technology patents, potentially clearing the way for Canon to restart its work on SED televisions. However, unless Canon had continued working on the technology on the sly, it would still need to solve problems of bringing the technology to market at competitive prices.
SED technology has the potential to offer flat panel displays that are brighter and offer higher contrast ratios than typical LCD flat panel displays, while consuming far less power. However, SED's relevance in the marketplace may have diminished in the time spent battling over patents: LCD televisions have made significant improvements to image quality while lowering power consumption, and the LCD TV market set to enter a pricing war as more and more manufacturing capacity comes online.
Applied Nanotech Holdings says it is reviewing the decision and hasn't made any decision on whether to continue to pursue the case.
Post Your Comment...Comments
donpatent on Aug 8th, 2008 at 9:39 AM:
I'm a shareholder in APNT - I say sue the ass off Canon and delay their fraudulent activities FOREVER.
And then do the same to Toshiba - the REAL culprit in all this!!
Buy an OLED!!
You'll never get a SED if I have any say in the matter.
Ranger on Aug 9th, 2008 at 7:05 AM:
Thank goodness you don't.
RickAce on Aug 11th, 2008 at 12:07 PM:
donpatent,
What a dog of a stock... its seems to me you purchase stock "too make money". By Canon using SED technology I would think that would bring in royalties... you know ... money!
Go Figure.
RickAce on Aug 11th, 2008 at 12:07 PM:
donpatent,
What a dog of a stock... its seems to me you purchase stock "too make money". By Canon using SED technology I would think that would bring in royalties... you know ... money!
Go Figure.
donpatent on Aug 14th, 2008 at 9:29 AM:
We appealed!
Good.
Keep looking for your Canon SED.
We'd love for Canon to sell you one.
But as our IP is involved we want a DECENT cut.
And an honest cut. And a just cut.
It ain't over till it's over.
ggusta on Aug 29th, 2008 at 1:17 PM:
donp,
i hope you are trolling, cause if you aren't, then you are one dumb sumbeach
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Kevin on Aug 7th, 2008 at 12:56 PM:
If these f'ing companies would stop suing each other over patents/licenses/copyrights, etc... we would see more and faster progress of technology and an increasingly competitive and profitable economy. I'm so sick of this bull...