Home appliances giant TCL among companies facing US trade probe

The US International Trade Commission has decided to initiate Section 337 investigation into video processing equipment and its components, as well as digital smart televisions and downstream products, the Ministry of Commerce said on Friday.

Enterprises such as Chinese home appliances giant TCL Technology Group, South Korea's Samsung, LG and Electronics are involved in the case.

The investigation was filed by US-based video codec company DivX on Sept 10 in accordance with Section 337 of the US Tariff Act of 1930 to ITC, accusing the above mentioned products exported to, imported from or sold in the United States of infringing its patent rights and requesting ITC to issue a limited exclusion order and prohibition order.

TCL said on Friday that it had evaluated the investigation, and the impact on the company's operation is limited. It said in a statement that it will also ensure the normal operation of related business as planned.

Statistics from TCL showed the sales of its TV products rose by 26 percent to 13.46 million units last year, with the revenue from overseas markets making up over 65 percent of the total.

Section 337 concerns the infringement of certain statutory intellectual property rights and other forms of unfair competition in import trade. Most of these investigations involve allegations of patent or registered trademark infringement.