That's according to an article by Bloomberg News.
Vizio, an American-based TV manufacturer, has climbed near the top of TV sales rankings during the last year due to a catalog of low-cost LCD and Plasma sets. Comparably-sized Vizio sets are often $100-200 cheaper than those sold by the larger TV makers.
However, the small company's rise has irked the larger companies and one Sony executive recently called Vizio's sets 'non-HDTVs.'
Bloomberg reports that Sony, Mitsubishi, Samsung, Thomson and Philips charge in the suit that Vizio has violated 15 different TV patents. (The case has been filed in New York.)
"For many years, (the) defendant has had an opportunity to license the patents...(but) refused," the lawsuit states.
Bloomberg reports that the patents govern the video compression standard called MPEG-2 -- and that the TV makers filed a similar lawsuit last April against Target over its Trutech-branded sets.
Jim Noyd, a Vizio spokesman, would not comment on the lawsuit, according to Bloomberg. The TV makers are seeking a court order that would stop Vizio from selling TVs with the compression technology, plus damages.
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