By Jacqueline Bell

Law360, New York (April 16, 2010, 12:16 PM ET) -- The U.S. International Trade Commission has voted to launch an investigation into a complaint filed by Verizon Communications Inc. alleging that Cablevision Systems Corp. imports digital TV set-top boxes that infringe five patents.

The ITC made the announcement Friday, exactly a month after Verizon filed a Section 337 complaint calling on the commission to issue an injunction banning Cablevision’s imported digital set-top boxes from entering the U.S.

The set-top boxes at issue are digital video distributors, receiving video information through a broadband communications network and processing...