Settlement Looms in Legal Fight Between HDMI Licensing, InfoComm

HDMI Licensing and the producers of the InfoComm show jointly asked the U.S. District Court in Las Vegas for a stay through Jan. 31 in their three-month-old legal battle because they have started talks to settle the case, said a stipulation motion filed at the court Friday. Though a "potential resolution" of the case is "at hand," it may "require some time to effectuate," the motion said. Both sides want to avoid an "extended or extensive litigation," so they've "agreed to exchange certain materials and negotiate in good faith over the next two months," it said. A nasty war of words between the two sides has marked the court battle. The InfoComm 2014 AV show in mid-June gave "safe haven" to exhibitors that are "direct infringers" of HDMI trademarks by letting them market, promote and sell unlicensed HDMI products on the show floor, shielded from investigators, HDMI Licensing alleged in a complaint filed in September (see 1409150044). InfoComm countersued a month later (see 1410170054), accusing HDMI Licensing of "blatant extortion" for the manner in which it treated "as a common criminal" any company on the InfoComm show floor that used the HDMI acronym.