Reuters has reported that the U.S. International Trade Commission on Wednesday ordered an agency judge to take another look at a patent fight between Whirlpool and LG Electronics over refrigerator components.
Whirlpool last year accused rival LG of infringing on five Whirlpool patents involving freezer compartment and ice storage bins. It asked the trade panel to halt imports of refrigerators with those components for sale in the United States.
On February 26, an administrative law judge working for the commission issued an initial determination in favor of LG. But the entire commission ordered the case sent back to the same administrative judge and extended the agency’s investigation until September 7.
The commission is a popular venue for patent complaints because the agency can bar imports of infringing products.
Whirlpool, which makes KitchenAid, Maytag and Amana brand appliances, said the patents were associated with popular models such as French door refrigerators with bottom freezers and some side-by-side products.
Established appliance companies such as Whirlpool and Sweden’s Electrolux are facing new competition as entrants such as LG and fellow South Korean maker Samsung Electronics offer more high-end products.
The game here appears to be one similar to that played with Sharp flat screen TV’s in the US where, due to legal action, sales of all Sharp flat screen televisions were stopped in the US.