LG attempting to stop the sale of PS3 in U.S.

LG Electronics wants the U.S. International Trade Commission to bar the import of the PlayStation 3 into the United States, according to a complaint.

The complaint, filed Friday with the ITC and first reported by Bloomberg yesterday, claims that the Blu-ray player in the PlayStation 3 violates several of LG's patents. The company cited Sony, Sony Corporation of America, Sony Electronics, Sony Computer Entertainment, and Sony Computer Entertainment America in the complaint, according to the docket page on the ITC's Web site.

The ITC 337 Law Blog, which is run by a private law firm, posted the complaint documents (PDF) yesterday.

According to the documents, LG said it holds two patents that it believes Sony violates in the PlayStation 3 related to the way a Blu-ray player reproduces data from a Blu-ray disc. The company cited another patent that covers the "reproduction of multiple data streams" by way of multiple camera angles. LG also said Sony violates a patent it holds on the display of text subtitles on Blu-ray.

LG's decision to take aim at Sony follows a complaint filed by Sony with the ITC in late December. In that complaint, Sony said that LG violates patents it holds for mobile phones. The company asked the ITC to bar LG from selling its mobile phones in the United States.

For its part, LG wants the ITC to launch an "immediate investigation" into Sony's use of the Blu-ray player in the PlayStation 3. The company wants the ITC to bar Sony from importing the PlayStation 3 into the United States. It also wants the console to be banned from any marketing or repair efforts Sony might engage in.

Neither Sony nor LG immediately responded to request for comment.