The Federal Circuit in a 2-1 decision in Vizio v. Int'l Trade Comm'n, No. 2009-1386, today affirmed in part and reversed in part the Commission's ruling in 337-TA-617, In the Matter of Certain Digital Televisions and Certain Products Containing Same and Methods of Using Same. The Complainant in the investigation was Funai Electric Co., Ltd. and Funai Corporation, and the remanining Respondents were Vizio, Inc., Amtran Technology Co., TPV Technology Ltd., TPV International (USA), Inc., Top Victory Electronics (Taiwan) Co., Ltd., and Envision Peripherals, Inc. The investigation covered claims 1, 5, and 23 of U.S. Patent No. 6,115,074.
After analyzing claim construction for three separate sets of terms, the panel agreed with the Commission's constructions for all but the "suitable for use," "for identifying," or "for decoding" terms. The panel also agreed with the Commission that the claims asserted were not invalid. However, the panel reversed the Commission's ruling that the so-called "work around products" infringed because they did not satisfy the "suitable for use," "for identifying," or "for decoding" limitations of the '074 patent.
Judges Dyk and Mayer filed the majority opinion, while Judge Clevenger filed a dissent arguing for affirmance because Vizio's arguments for the "suitable for use," "for identifying," or "for decoding" had been waived.