Sunday. A follow-up tonight to our story last October taking on Goliath. Bob Brown
reported about a US company that has been in a legal duel with Japan's
electronics industry. The battle is over a one-of-a-kind VCR. To copy a videotape
you need two VCRs. Why not put two VCRs in a single deck? Arizona entrepreneur
Taron Dunlap came up with that idea. One push of a button starts the copying and
to produce the deck Dunlap's company GoVideo needed the cooperation of
Japan's electronics industry which had previously acquired the relevant US
patents. But Dunlap says that Japan's top electronics firms conspired against him
to keep his product off the market. Suddenly we realized that a cartel of
Japanese companies would say no to American business. So GoVideo sued under
US antitrust laws. Before the case came to trial a Korean company agreed to make
the unit putting the dual deck on the market. But this week after a jury trial
in a US district court in Arizona GoVideo got nowhere with its suit against
the Japanese. The jury found that there was not enough evidence to prove a
conspiracy. GoVideo says it will appeal the verdict. The product stays in the
market. The company just won't get money from the Japanese unless it wins an
appeal. We'll be right back.