LG Philips LCD Settles Patent Infringement Cases Against Taiwanese Competitor
Harriette Cecilio - AHN News Writer Seoul, South Korea (AHN) - The world’s second largest maker of flat TVs, LG Philips LCD, has settled the two infringement suits it lodged against Taiwan’s Chungwa Picture Tubes (CPT), the Dutch-South Korean venture said Wednesday. LG said aside from dropping the two cases the company filed in U.S. courts in 2002 and 2005, it also agreed to share liquid-crystal display (LCD)-related patents with CPT, Taiwan’s third-largest make of LCDs.
LG did not disclose the settlement amount received from the Taiwanese firm in exchange for the dropping of the lawsuits. Kim Joo-Sup, head of LG Philips LCD’s intellectual property center, said the company is happy to enter into a compromise settlement. “LG Philips LCD intends to continue enforcing and protecting its intellectual property assets worldwide,” Kim said in a statement. To recall, LG sued CPT claiming that the Taiwanese firm, its parent Tatung Co, and ViewSonic Corp.
copied its technology. A federal jury in Wilmington, Delaware had awarded LG $52.4 million in damages after ruling that there was infringement of LG’s patents. LCDs account for 75 percent of CPT’s sales. After the release of the adverse jury decision, CPT insisted it will appeal, noting that Taiwan has long developed its LCD manufacturing technologies and that the company respects the intellectual property of its competitors. It instead opted for an out-of-court settlement.