US President approves an ITC’s ruling banning Vizio’s TVs from import and sale

In connection with a patent infringement dispute regarding digital television filed against the US Vizio and ten other companies, Funai Electric announced on June 10, 2009 that President Obama had approved a ruling issued by the International Trade Commission (ITC), in which the eleven defendants were found to be infringing on Funai Electric’s patent.
The ITC had previously issued on April 10, 2009 a final ruling forbidding Vizio and the other defendants from importing and selling digital televisions in the USA, due to their infringing on Funai Electric’s patent.
Funai Electric explains that the US legislation regarding customs provides a sixty-day period during which the President can verify the contents of the ruling, and that since this period came to an end on June 9, 2009, the cease-and-desist order of the ITC is considered to have been approved. Accordingly, Vizio and the other defendants are banned from importing and selling the infringing goods in the USA. The ruling applies, among others, to the digital TV brands Vizio, Proview, AOC, Olevia and Envision.