LG.Philips accuses rival of patent infringement

Electronics manufacturing joint venture LG.Philips LCD has instigated legal proceedings in the Central District of California, accusing rival LCD manufacturer Chunghwa Picture Tubes and Tatung of patent infringement.

LG.Philips is seeking US$80 million for damages, alleging that Chunghwa and Tatung wilfully infringed its semiconductor patents. The patents at issue relate to the process for manufacturing liquid crystal displays. LG.Philips is also seeking an order enjoining Chunghwa and Tatung products from entering the US.

LG.Philips said that last week news agencies had erroneously reported that a US judge had dismissed a lawsuit filed by LG.Philips against Chunghwa and Tatung involving patent infringement.

This is not the first time the two companies have come to legal blows. In early 2004, Chunghwa filed counter claims and a counter suit against LG.Philips, alleging that Chunghwa owned LG.Philips’s sidemounting patents based on Chunghwa's purchase of long expired rights of now defunct Digital Equipment Corporation. The sidemount technology is a method of mounting liquid crystal displays (LCD) that allows system manufacturers to fit larger LCD displays in their products.

A court reportedly dismissed Chunghwa's claim that it invented sidemount technology.

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