Canon court loss to further stall launch of new TVs

(CBC) - A U.S. Federal Court has ruled that Canon Inc. breached a nanotechnology licensing deal, which is expected to further delay the company's plans to launch a new type of flat-screen TV.

Judge Samuel Sparks of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas issued a summary judgment that found Canon broke a licensing agreement. The agreement was for carbon nanotube screen technology with Nano-Proprietary Inc. of Austin, Texas, when it shared information with Toshiba Corp.

Nano-Proprietary sued Canon over the broken contract.

Canon and Toshiba began working on surface conduction electron emitter display (SED) TVs in 1999, missed a 2005 launch and then did so again in 2007. The screens are thinner than conventional cathode ray tube (CRT) TVs, but brighter than LCD or plasma.

Damages in the case are yet to be determined.

© the CBC, 2007