The US International Trade Commission will investigate a patent infringement case lodged against Sony by Taiwanese LCD manufacturer Chimei Innolux Corp.
The alleged infringement, which focuses on memory caching technologies used in Sony's PlayStation 3 console, and comes as part of series of filings by Chimei, including cases based on technology used in Bravia TVs and VAIO notebooks.
The case has lead to Chimei attempting to ban imports of the goods into the US, from manufacturing plants in Japan, Mexico and China, Gamasutra reports.
The ITC will also be hearing a separate allegation in January, filed by Sony, which accuses Chimei of copying patented Sony technology in its televised menu displays.
Chimei has suffered a number of legal defeats in recent times, including the jailing of three its executives in a price-fixing scandal and further copyright-infringement cases.