By Don Southerton, KoreaLegal.org Editor
Some closure and some issues still unresolved. Two major Korea-facing legal battles long in the news surfaced this week, Lone Star KEB and the Samsung Apple legal battle.
Lone Star and KEB
(Bloomberg) — Lone Star Funds’ sale of Korea Exchange Bank won approval from regulators, clearing the final hurdle for Hana Financial Group Inc.’s 3.9 trillion won ($3.5 billion) purchase. The Financial Services Commission ruled yesterday that Seoul-based Hana, South Korea’s fourth-largest financial group by assets, has sufficient health and funding to buy the 51 percent stake, the regulator said in a statement. The Commission’s nod allows Dallas-based Lone Star to end an eight-year investment that has been plagued by legal disputes and a public backlash over profits. Hana Chairman Kim Seung Yu has been pushing to complete the purchase of Korea Exchange Bank for more than a year to help narrow the lead of bigger rivals KB Financial Group Inc. and Woori Finance Holdings
Samsung and Apple
(Korea Times) Samsung Electronics suffered another legal setback in its patent battle with Apple, after a German court ruled against its claim that the iPhone maker infringed on its smartphone patents. The decision by the regional court in Mannheim Friday (KST) came a week after it shot down claims by the Korean technology giant that Apple infringed on its patents related to third-generation (3G) mobile communications standards. With Samsung continuing to find itself on the wrong end of court decisions in its fight, it remains to be seen whether the company will seek a truce with its U.S. rival in the form of a cross-licensing agreement or other arrangement. However, some industry officials believe that Samsung executives are too proud to throw in the metaphorical towel on the technology sector’s most high-profile intellectual property bout. See
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