In AC-4 Case, Public Won’t See Dolby’s Opposition to LG TRO for a Week

Dolby’s memorandum of law in opposition to LG’s motion for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction was due Monday in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, but it may take at least a week for the public to see even a redacted version of the filing. A joint stipulation and order signed Jan. 26 by U.S. District Judge Paul Crotty instructs Dolby to propose redaction of sensitive business information for the public filing, giving LG until the close of business Feb. 7 to propose additional redactions, before both sides meet and confer on the release of the public version. The process repeats itself after LG files a reply memorandum on Feb. 14, said Crotty’s order. LG alleges Dolby violated the Sherman Antitrust Act and California unfair competition laws by reneging on its commitments to ATSC to license its AC-4 audio codec patents for NextGenTV on fair, reasonable and nondiscriminatory (FRAND) terms (see 2201060058). All unredacted documents in the case are being filed under seal, and the few clues to emerge from the heavily redacted public filings so far suggest LG is trying to enjoin Dolby from suspending or canceling its license to unspecified Dolby technologies over the FRAND allegations.