Samsung, Zenith Sue Polaroid and Westinghouse over ATSC Patents

By Doug Lung
published

Samsung filed a suit in the U.S. District Court of Delaware against Polaroid Corp. and Westinghouse Digital Electronics LLC for infringement of patents essential to the ATSC standard. The patents listed in the suit include, “Ghost cancellation reference signal with Bessel chirps and PN sequences and TV receiver using such signal” and “Method and apparatus for displaying information in a digital TV receiver.”

These licenses are now included in the ATSC Patent Portfolio License available through MPEG LA. MPEG LA collects a royalty of $5 for each ATSC receiver product for the patent holders. Zenith Electronics, another participant in the ATSC patent portfolio, is also suing Polaroid and Westinghouse for patent infringement in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas.

Doug Lung
Doug Lung

Doug Lung is one of America's foremost authorities on broadcast RF technology. As vice president of Broadcast Technology for NBCUniversal Local, H. Douglas Lung leads NBC and Telemundo-owned stations’ RF and transmission affairs, including microwave, radars, satellite uplinks, and FCC technical filings. Beginning his career in 1976 at KSCI in Los Angeles, Lung has nearly 50 years of experience in broadcast television engineering. Beginning in 1985, he led the engineering department for what was to become the Telemundo network and station group, assisting in the design, construction and installation of the company’s broadcast and cable facilities. Other projects include work on the launch of Hawaii’s first UHF TV station, the rollout and testing of the ATSC mobile-handheld standard, and software development related to the incentive auction TV spectrum repack.
A longtime columnist for TV Technology, Doug is also a regular contributor to IEEE Broadcast Technology. He is the recipient of the 2023 NAB Television Engineering Award. He also received a Tech Leadership Award from TV Tech publisher Future plc in 2021 and is a member of the IEEE Broadcast Technology Society and the Society of Broadcast Engineers.