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 Patent News |
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| Subject : LG Electronics Wins Key Patent Disputes |
| Date |
2009-03-31 |
Visit |
4725 |
LG Electronics has been making major strides in maintaining its leadership in strategic spots by successfully winning trade disputes.
As an increasing number of companies turn to protectionism amid the global economic recession, South Korea's leading consumer electronics players have been pressured to actively respond to patent-related disputes.
Claims and counterclaims from information technology (IT) focused companies are typical in patent disputes, as high-tech items deploy hundreds of potentially patented components and designs, many of which functionally overlap.
Unlike rival Samsung Electronics, LG is going one step further in securing its key businesses after the International Trade Commission (ITC) of the United States, ruled in favor of LG last week in a patent dispute with Whirlpool Corp.
ITC said LG freezers aren't covered by Whirlpool's U.S. patent for ice storage bins located in freezer doors.
The decision will be finalized in about three months if there's no appeal from Whirlpool, LG spokeswoman Lee Seung-yeon said.
"The ruling reaffirms LG's position in the U.S. appliance industry," Lee said.
"LG now has the chance to maintain its home appliance leadership in the U.S.," an analyst at Woori Investment & Securities said, adding that the news, however, will be limited as investors were more concerned over the timing of demand picking up in the consumer electronics industry.
Shares of LG Electronics were down 1.51 percent to end at 71,600 won on the nation's main bourse.
In January last year, Whirlpool insisted that LG had violated five of its refrigerator patents, but the U.S.-based company voluntarily dropped four of the claims prior to the trial.
In 2008, LG and Taiwan's Quanta Computer reached a settlement over a patent dispute, with Quanta agreeing to pay LG some $17 million in royalties for building the latter's designs into its notebook computers.
In 2007, it has also reached an out-of-court settlement in patent lawsuits against two Taiwanese PC makers ― Compal Electronics and First International Computer (FIC).
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