If You Can’t Beat ‘Em, Sue ‘Em
Have you noticed those insanely inexpensive HDTVs for sale at Costco? They are made by a company called VIZIO and they are currently being sued by Sony, Mitsubishi and Samsung over licensing issues.
“VIZIO’s suppliers have licenses for the MPEG-2 patents, and VIZIO believes that these licenses extend to VIZIO’s products,” the company said in a statement today. “VIZIO has notified its suppliers of the lawsuit and expects full support and cooperation by them in the defense of the lawsuit…VIZIO is working to resolve this matter with the plaintiffs and its suppliers, and it intends to defend its legal rights with vigor.”
This appears to be a classic case of “If You Can’t Beat ‘Em, Sue ‘Em.” Sony, Mitsubishi and Samsung have been gouging the buying public on HD televisions for the last couple of years and BRAGGING about their profits. VIZIO comes along and sells similar televisions for a full grand cheaper and the big companies don’t like them horning in on their profit margins.
If you have been sitting on the fence about buying a VIZIO television, hop to it now before Sony sues them out of existence.