Toshiba Seeks Court Remedies for Infringement of Essential DVD Patent in Italy

TOKYO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Toshiba Corporation announced today that the Company filed a lawsuit in Italy against an Italian disc replicator of DVD discs on December 27, 2007. The suit was brought to the District Court of Milan - Specialised IP Chamber against ACME S.p.A. (ACME), as a means to halt infringement a Toshiba’s DVD patent. Toshiba seeks injunctive relief and declaration that ACME is liable for damages resulting from its infringement of Toshiba’s DVD patent.

Toshiba licenses patents essential for meeting DVD format specifications.¹ ACME has not entered into license agreements with Toshiba or the DVD6C Licensing Group², and has engaged in the manufacture and sales of DVD video discs in Italy without permission. Toshiba contends that ACME’s infringement of Toshiba’s patent has damaged Toshiba’s DVD-related business, and also caused damage to the legitimate and licensed DVD product manufacturing and distribution business as a whole. In filing the lawsuit, Toshiba prepares to recover monetary damages, and to secure an agreement from ACME to respect Toshiba’s intellectual property rights in future.

Toshiba has previously filed lawsuits in the US against infringement of its DVD patents, against an American importer and wholesaler of DVD-related products in 2005 and against 17 manufacturers and importers of DVD-related products in April 2007. The company also brought a lawsuit in Germany in July 2007, against a German DVD disc replicator. Toshiba will continue to take appropriate action against infringements of its DVD technology patents to promote development of a healthy DVD industry.

¹ DVD format specifications are standards adopted by the DVD Forum.

² The DVD6C Licensing Group (DVD6C) is an industry body representing nine leading developers of DVD technology and formats that licenses essential DVD patents. For further information on the DVD6C Licensing Group, please see http://www.dvd6cla.com/.

Lawsuit against infringement of Toshiba's DVD patent
1.	Date of filing: December 27, 2007
2.	Filed with: the District Court of Milan - Specialised IP Chamber
3.	Plaintiff: Toshiba Corporation
4.	Filed against: ACME S.p.A.
5.	Products: DVD video discs
6.	Scope of Complaint: Seeks monetary damages and an injunction
	prohibiting production of the named products in Italy by the
	defendant.