LG Electronics (LG), a leading player in the global flat panel display market, filed a countersuit against Hitachi America Ltd., Hitachi Ltd. and Fujitsu Hitachi Plasma Display Ltd., seeking an injunction on patent infringement of LG’s PDP technology and monetary compensation. LG’s claims include four patents related to methods for driving plasma display panels and three patents related to apparatus and cell structure of plasma display panels.
“Intellectual property is one of LG’s essential assets, which we will always uncompromisingly protect,” said Jeong Hwan Lee, Executive Vice President and Head of LG Electronics Intellectual Property Center. “Japanese firms are filing more and more lawsuits as competition in the global display market has increased dramatically. We will proactively deal with the situation based on our patented and patent-applied-for technologies.”
LG and Hitachi have been trying to reach a settlement regarding patents related to PDP technologies since 2005. Earlier in April, Hitachi filed a suit against LG at the U.S. District Court of Texas for patent infringement on similar technologies, claiming they were Hitachi’s proprietary technologies. LG’s filing today is a countersuit against this claim. The case is a result of a difference of opinion over the proprietary nature of each company’s PDP technologies.
LG has been actively developing PDP technologies since 1990. LG holds approximately 2,300 international patents for PDP technologies, including methods for driving plasma display panels and apparatus and cell structure of plasma display panels. The company also has applied for about 6,000 patents for PDP technologies nationally and internationally.
