Viavi Patent Complaint Asks ITC for Import Ban of LG Smartphones

Viavi seeks a ban on imports of LG smartphones that infringe its patents, alleged the company Nov. 14 in a Tariff Act Section 337 complaint (login required) at the International Trade Commission, said Monday’s Federal Register. Viavi said LG's incorporating optical filters and optical sensor systems into its smartphones and tablets that provide 3D depth-sensing and gesture-recognition capabilities. Those optical filters and sensor systems are made by Optrontec and LG Innotek, which sell the components to LG for embedding in its smartphones before they’re imported to the U.S. Viavi requests a limited exclusion order and cease and desist orders against LG Electronics, LG Innotek and Optrontec barring import and sale of infringing devices, optical filters and optical sensor systems. Comments are due Dec. 3. LGE declined comment. LG Innotek and Optrontec didn't answer email queries.