P&F USA, Inc. is a Georgia corporation headquartered at 3015 Windward Plaza, Alpharetta, Georgia. It was incorporated on June 13, 2008 with $30 million in capital as a wholly owned U.S. subsidiary of Funai Electric Co., Ltd. (Osaka, Japan; formerly TSE: 6839). Funai was taken private by Shuwa System Holdings in 2021 and delisted, then filed for bankruptcy in October 2024 with reported debt of roughly ¥46.1 billion. Current employee and revenue figures for P&F USA are not publicly reported, and its present operating status following the parent's insolvency and business transfer is unclear.
P&F USA was an operating sales and marketing subsidiary, not a patent-holding shell. It served as the exclusive North American licensee for Philips-brand consumer televisions and home video products — responsible for sourcing, distribution, marketing and sales of Philips TVs, Blu-ray/DVD players, home theater systems and a Philips Hospitality line across the U.S., Canada, Mexico and selected Latin American markets. Sister entity Funai Corporation, Inc. handled the Magnavox, Emerson, Sylvania, Funai and Symphonic brands. The Philips license, extended in 2013 and 2015 through 2018, was tied to retail distribution (notably Walmart); China's Skyworth took over the Philips-brand North American TV business in 2025.
Its litigation posture is one-directional defense: 0 cases as plaintiff, 2 as defendant. That profile — defendant only — is consistent with an operating company absorbed into suppliers' patent campaigns rather than an NPE. Neither tracked case is in a plaintiff-friendly venue like the Eastern District of Texas: one is a Section 337 action at the ITC, the other a parallel Central District of California suit.
Both tracked cases arise from the same dispute. In LSI Corporation et al. v. Funai Electric Co., Ltd. et al. (ITC Inv. No. 337-TA-837, instituted April 11, 2012) and the companion LSI Corporation et al. v. Funai Corporation, Inc. et al. (C.D. Cal., filed March 12, 2012), LSI and Agere Systems accused Funai entities including P&F USA of infringing four patents (U.S. 5,870,087; 6,452,958; 6,707,867; 6,982,663) covering Wi-Fi and digital multimedia processing in DTVs, Blu-ray/DVD players and home theater systems. MediaTek, Ralink and Realtek were co-respondents. The Commission ultimately found no violation on the '958 patent and terminated the '087 and '663 claims by settlement.
Sources: Funai Electric press releases and USITC notices (337-TA-837); Federal Register termination notice (Mar. 10, 2014); Nikkei Asia and Licensing International on the Philips license transfer; Funai/Shuwa bankruptcy reporting.