Plasma patent war between LG and Matsushita over?
The key part of the Reuters story may be the last (17th) paragraph:
Analysts said at the time that the deal between Sony and Samsung could be the start of a trend -- sharing patents on basic technology to prevent costly legal battles that might hurt a firm's competitive position even if it won the suit.
from Reuters:
The world's No. 1 (LG) and 3 (Matsushita) suppliers of plasma panels, the key component in flat-screen televisions, have agreed to settle their dispute over plasma display technology, a newspaper said on April 2, 2005.
Plasma panels are the key component in plasma televisions, a market which DisplaySearch expects to more than quadruple in size to 12.3 million sets globally by 2008 as consumers trade in bulky cathode-ray tube models for sexier flat screen TVs.
In early November last year, Osaka-based Matsushita filed for an injunction at the Tokyo District Court to halt sales in Japan of LG's plasma panels, claiming they infringed on its patents concerning heat radiation technology.
Matsushita also asked customs officials to halt imports of LG's panels. That request was granted later that month.
CONCERNS OVER DAMAGE
LG filed a countersuit in a Seoul Court, claiming Matsushita violated its patents. LG also asked a state trade commission to ban imports of plasma panel televisions produced by Matsushita, the maker of Panasonic products.
South Korea's commerce ministry announced in late November that Matsushita's Korean subsidiary could not import or sell display products using its Matsushita panels until Seoul's trade committee made a final ruling on the case.
After five months of fighting, LG has shown a willingness to pay some royalties and Matsushita believes it can settle the case without compromising its tough stance on protecting its intellectual property, the Nihon Keizai said.
LG, for its part, feels it is best to settle now before the dispute escalates. The South Korean maker is concerned about the damage it might incur if Matsushita decided to file a suit against it in the U.S. market, the newspaper said.
The agreement will involve both companies dropping all lawsuits and injunction requests in South Korea and Japan, the paper added.
Among other disputes, Japan's Sharp Corp. has filed a suit against Taiwan's Teco Electric and Machinery Co., claiming some of Teco's liquid crystal display TVs using panels made by AU Optronics Corp. violate Sharp's patents.
Sony Corp. and Samsung Electronics, however, said in December they had agreed to share patents on basic technology to speed up product development and avoid such cross-border patent disputes.
Analysts said at the time that the deal between Sony and Samsung could be the start of a trend -- sharing patents on basic technology to prevent costly legal battles that might hurt a firm's competitive position even if it won the suit.
Analysts said at the time that the deal between Sony and Samsung could be the start of a trend -- sharing patents on basic technology to prevent costly legal battles that might hurt a firm's competitive position even if it won the suit.
from Reuters:
The world's No. 1 (LG) and 3 (Matsushita) suppliers of plasma panels, the key component in flat-screen televisions, have agreed to settle their dispute over plasma display technology, a newspaper said on April 2, 2005.
Plasma panels are the key component in plasma televisions, a market which DisplaySearch expects to more than quadruple in size to 12.3 million sets globally by 2008 as consumers trade in bulky cathode-ray tube models for sexier flat screen TVs.
In early November last year, Osaka-based Matsushita filed for an injunction at the Tokyo District Court to halt sales in Japan of LG's plasma panels, claiming they infringed on its patents concerning heat radiation technology.
Matsushita also asked customs officials to halt imports of LG's panels. That request was granted later that month.
CONCERNS OVER DAMAGE
LG filed a countersuit in a Seoul Court, claiming Matsushita violated its patents. LG also asked a state trade commission to ban imports of plasma panel televisions produced by Matsushita, the maker of Panasonic products.
South Korea's commerce ministry announced in late November that Matsushita's Korean subsidiary could not import or sell display products using its Matsushita panels until Seoul's trade committee made a final ruling on the case.
After five months of fighting, LG has shown a willingness to pay some royalties and Matsushita believes it can settle the case without compromising its tough stance on protecting its intellectual property, the Nihon Keizai said.
LG, for its part, feels it is best to settle now before the dispute escalates. The South Korean maker is concerned about the damage it might incur if Matsushita decided to file a suit against it in the U.S. market, the newspaper said.
The agreement will involve both companies dropping all lawsuits and injunction requests in South Korea and Japan, the paper added.
Among other disputes, Japan's Sharp Corp. has filed a suit against Taiwan's Teco Electric and Machinery Co., claiming some of Teco's liquid crystal display TVs using panels made by AU Optronics Corp. violate Sharp's patents.
Sony Corp. and Samsung Electronics, however, said in December they had agreed to share patents on basic technology to speed up product development and avoid such cross-border patent disputes.
Analysts said at the time that the deal between Sony and Samsung could be the start of a trend -- sharing patents on basic technology to prevent costly legal battles that might hurt a firm's competitive position even if it won the suit.
posted by Lawrence B. Ebert at 10:29 AM
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