Posts Tagged ‘Korea consultant’

Yale Struggles with Dongguk Lawsuit

Saturday, February 18th, 2012
Yale Struggles with Dongguk Lawsuit

By Don Southerton, KoreaLegal.org Editor

Seems like Yale University is struggling with the Dongguk lawsuit that stemmed from the Shin Jeong-ah scandal in Korea.

I have long felt that Yale has downplayed the controversy. Perhaps this is in part Yale leadership and lawyers not truly understanding Korean academia and the credibility they place in American universities like Harvard, Princeton and Yale (HPY to Koreans).  Hate to be so bold, but I could help here…. Culture matters.

AP Notes… A federal judge in Connecticut has rejected a second bid by Yale University to throw out all the allegations in a lawsuit filed by a South Korean university that claims it lost tens of millions of dollars after Yale damaged its reputation.

Dongguk University claims in the 2008 lawsuit that it hired an art history professor after Yale wrongly confirmed the professor earned a doctorate at the New Haven school. Court papers say the professor, Shin Jeong-ah, later had a scandalous love affair with an aide to South Korea’s president.

Dongguk, a Buddhist-affiliated university in Seoul, is suing Yale for more than $50 million, saying it lost that amount in government grants, alumni donations and costs of building a law school the government later refused to approve because of the scandal.

U.S. District Judge Tucker Melancon on Friday rejected most of Yale’s motion for summary judgment. While the judge granted Yale’s request to dismiss a civil charge of reckless and wanton conduct, he let stand allegations of defamation and negligence.

A trial is set for June. Yale previously lost a bid to get the lawsuit dismissed.

“We were very pleased with the decision,’’ said Robert Weiner, a New York City lawyer for Dongguk. “We believe we have lots of damages we can establish at trial.’’

Weiner said Dongguk is the most prestigious Buddhist university in the world and it suffered a huge blow to its reputation with the Shin scandal.

Lawyers for Yale didn’t return messages Monday. University officials have said the lawsuit is without merit and they would defend against it.

Shin was sentenced to 18 months in a South Korean jail in March 2008 for using fake Yale credentials to get the professor’s job at Dongguk and for embezzling museum funds. Officials said she also faked two degrees from the University of Kansas in getting the job in 2005.

The former presidential aide, Byeon Yang-kyoon, was accused of using his influence to get Shin hired by Dongguk. He was forced to step down as an aide to then-President Roh Moo-hyun because of the scandal.

Byeon was sentenced to a suspended one-year jail term and 160 hours of community service in 2008 for exercising his influence to provide state tax benefits to a Buddhist temple founded by a former Dongguk official who helped hire Shin as a professor, South Korean officials said.

Yale told Dongguk in June 2007 that Shin didn’t receive a doctorate there, saying a letter confirming the degree that Shin presented to Dongguk was bogus and forged. Yale also told Korean media that it never received a registered letter in 2005 from Dongguk asking whether Shin had received a doctorate, even though it did receive the letter, the lawsuit said.

Yale later apologized to Dongguk in late 2007 for what it called an administrative error. But Dongguk officials said by that time the damage to its reputation had been done. South Korean media reported in the summer and fall of 2007 that Shin’s academic degrees were a fraud, that Dongguk failed to verify Shin’s degrees, that Shin had an affair with Byeon and that Byeon had recommended to Dongguk officials that they hire Shin, court records say.

Source: LINK

Yale Struggles with Dongguk Lawsuit

KORUS FTA–What’s the delay?

Saturday, February 11th, 2012
KORUS FTA  Whats the delay?

By Don Southerton, KoreaLegal.org Editor

This past week we saw the current Korean administration’s opposition seeking to “axe” KORUS FTA. In response supporters seek to get the FTA enacted ASAP. As reported in Yonhap News Agency, “We believe that the U.S.-Korea free trade agreement is in the interest of the United States, of the Republic of Korea, and of the relationship between our two countries,” A State Department official further noted. “The U.S.-Korea free trade agreement represents a historic opportunity to increase exports, support job creation, bolster both our economies, and strengthen a vital strategic alliance in the Asia-Pacific.”

So what’s the delay? Here’s my update…

On a positive note following the 2011 amended agreement for the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (KORUS FTA) and ratification both by the U.S. Congress and Korean Assembly expectations are that the treaty will be implemented in the first quarter of 2012. Advocates and many critics alike see the FTA boosting annual commerce between the two nations into the billions of Dollars.

That said, although the treaty has been signed, both the U.S and South Korean government require a final legal review, then a period of public review and discussion prior to implementation.

More specifically,

1. The original plan was for KORUS FTA to take effect on January 1, 2012.

2. However, end-of-year holiday time restraints slowed U.S. government legal review of the final KORUS FTA wording and translation. This has resulted in a January implementation delay.

3. Once this U.S. review has been finalized (probably in February), the agreement documents will be reviewed by Korea. Then, as in the terms of the agreement the KORUS FTA must take effect within 60 days of finalized documents.

4. The 60-day period also serves as a public review of the treaty by citizens from both countries.

5. According to my sources, we can expect KORUS FTA to take full effect in March or early April.

To conclude, the final review process can be time consuming. For example, even though the treaty is signed, U.S. legal review teams have asked for additional documents and clarifications regarding the FTA wording and translations. Once the Korean teams respond to the U.S. side’s questions, the documents will be then sent to Korea for their final review. The Korean team then may have questions for the U.S. team, who in turn will need to reply, and so forth.

Look for updated as the unfold.

KORUS FTA  Whats the delay?

Books on Korea: Fiction and Non-fiction

Saturday, November 12th, 2011
Books on Korea: Fiction and Non fiction

By Don Southerton, KoreaLegal.org Editor

I was recently asked about my publications. Reminded me that I rarely mention past writing and research interests other new projects. Currently, I’m mid way on a book about Hyundai Motor Group corporate culture, and writings centered on new urbanism with ties between Songdo IBD ( Incheon, South Korea) and Belmar ( in the Denver, Colorado area).

Meanwhile here a LINK to some of my publications–some complimentary, too.

Books on Korea: Fiction and Non fiction

Books on Korea: Fiction and Non fiction

KORUS FTA and Twitter

Saturday, November 5th, 2011
KORUS FTA and Twitter

By Don Southerton, KoreaLegal.org Editor

Several years ago as ROK President entered the early months of his administration the opposition using social media (Text) orchestrated huge protests. Lots of this centered on American beef and Mad Cow disease.

Looks like the opposition party has resorted to similar tactics ( Twitter) to force the GNP in final KORUS FTA talks…

Korea Times notes:

Unfounded and absurd rumors about the ill effects of the Korea-U.S. free trade agreement (KORUS FTA) are spreading rapidly through social networking services (SNS).One rumor argues that the FTA will wipe out Korean rice farmers and Korea will fall victim to big grain producers, although the rice market has already been opened in accordance with the multilateral agreement made under the supervision of the World Trade Organization.

Another claims that the FTA will push mad cow disease to immediate epidemic proportions; while firearm controls will be lifted, turning Korean streets into scenes of gun battles.

There appear to be a couple of different twists to the “mad cow protests” over Seoul’s decision to resume American beef imports that peaked with candlelit protests two and a half years ago. One of them is the medium. It was then Internet blogs but now SNSs such as Twitters are taking over.

But there are common threads pushing the two rumor machines ― a high level of discontent among young people, hit by dark prospects of unemployment, and deep distrust of the incumbent government.

The rumor mills are expected to go on at full tilt during the deadlock over the ratification of the KORUS FTA in the National Assembly.

At the center of the rumor is the investor-state dispute (ISD) clause as part of the FTA, which would allow foreign investors to bring suits against the government of the co-signatory before an international panel of arbitrators.

Protestors demanded that the ISD be removed from the accord, arguing the provision would limit Seoul’s policies on American investors.

The increasing argument on the ISD is churning out wild rumors.

According to the messages on the KORUS FTA circulating on the Internet and SNS, Koreans will suffer from expensive medical bills, caused by privatization of medical services. Protests say, for example, patients will have to pay 9 million won for an appendectomy, up from currently 300,000 won, after the FTA takes effect.

In addition, they say that the FTA deal will raise public utility charges, as Bolivia faced after the FTA with the United States.

However, both rumors turned out to be false, as the medical sector is not included in the FTA, while Bolivia did not reach an agreement with the United States, according to the government.

The rumor-spreading campaign has reached political parties.

The Democratic Labor Party came up with 12 poisonous articles on the FTA, while an opposition lawmaker cited the message that 15 Mexican delegates of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) were shot to death after the nation’s economic downfall following the FTA.

The escalating rumors come as the Lee administration has failed to regain popularity.

In the Seoul mayoral election last month, opposition-backed civic activist Park Won-soon won with 53.3 percent of the vote compared to his Grand National Party rival Na Kyung-won’s 46.3 percent.

President Lee Myung-bak is rapidly becoming a lame duck ahead of his final year in office as a series of corruption scandals involving presidential aides has erupted.

 

KORUS FTA and Twitter

Going Global in an Uncertain Market–A leap frog approach

Thursday, September 29th, 2011
Going Global in an Uncertain Market  A leap frog approach

The Greater New England Minority Supplier Development Council will be hosting its annual Business Opportunity Expo October 3-5, 2011. Guest speakers include Korean global business expert Don Southerton.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PRLog (Press Release) - Sep 28, 2011 - The Greater New England Minority Supplier Development Council, Inc. (GNEMSDC) will be hosting its annual Business Opportunity Expo at the MGM Grand at Foxwoods. This year along with a number of distinguished speakers Bridging Culture Worldwide CEO Don Southerton will share insights into Korean global business, and how GNEMSDC members can model recent successes by Korea Groups like Hyundai-Kia Motors and Samsung Electronics.

Southerton notes, “Like a number of Korea-based companies, Minority-owned business (MBE) owners can look for new opportunities to grow their organizations even in rough economic times. This includes expanding their operations outside the U.S.” This includes expanding their operations outside the U.S.” Korean global consultant Southerton suggests taking a bold “leap frog” approach to spur ahead of the competition.

GNEMSDC’s Business Opportunity Expo is the largest minority business development conference and trade show in New England. The show brings together buyers and supplier diversity professionals from over 200 corporate members of the GNEMSDC and over 400 certified MBEs from around the country. This year the event features seminars and corporate CEO speakers who will inspire and identify opportunities for MBEs.

About Bridging Culture Worldwide
Since its founding, Bridging Culture Worldwide has focused on global and Korea-related business services. Based on over 3 decades of experience, they share cross-cultural insights to global teams and management. Bridging Culture Worldwide core services include: Consulting, Strategy, and Research; Publications; along with Franchise and Licensing Development, Product Launch, IP, and Trademark.  Visit http://www.bridgingculture.com

About GNEMSDC
The GNEMSDC is a regional affiliate of the National Minority Supplier Development Council. The GNEMSDC’s mission is to significantly increase procurement opportunities for certified minority business enterprises with our corporate membership. GNEMSDC covers CT, MA, RI, NH, VT, and ME.  Visit http://www.gnemsdc.org

# # #

Bridging Culture Worldwide is a Korea-focused professional consulting and training service with operations globally, in America, and in Korea.


Going Global in an Uncertain Market–A leap frog approach

Going Global in an Uncertain Market  A leap frog approach

Samsung Push For Ban on iPhone 5 Korea

Friday, September 23rd, 2011
Samsung Push For Ban on iPhone 5 Korea

By Don Southerton, KoreaLegal.org Editor

Another dimension to the Samsung Apple slugfest is the upcoming release of the iPhone 5 in Korea as well as the rest of the world. Samsung appears to be pressuring the courts to stall the release in their home market. We’ll see…. Apple should discuss with me on how to approach culturally. For example (APPLE), I’d appeal to popular tech lust and let Koreans demand the product…..give me a call  1-310-866-3777 anytime.

Korea Times notes

Samsung Electronics is seeking a complete ban on the sales of the upcoming Apple iPhone 5 in Korea, in apparent retaliation to its U.S. rival’s continual patent suits against it in global markets.

Sources closely involved with the thorny issue including Samsung insiders made the comments Sunday as the two technology firms’ patent war is set to spread from Europe to the rest of the world.

At least 23 lawsuits are pending between Apple and Samsung in such countries as France, Japan, Germany, Korea and the United States and more are expected in an increasing number of states.

“Just after the arrival of the iPhone 5 here, Samsung plans to take Apple to court here for its violation of Samsung’s wireless technology related patents,’’ said a senior executive from Samsung Electronics, asking not to be identified.

“For as long as Apple does not drop mobile telecommunications functions, it would be impossible for it to sell its i-branded products without using our patents. We will stick to a strong stance against Apple during the lingering legal fights.’’

His remarks contrast Samsung’s hitherto approach of not entering into a dogfight with Apple even when the latter brought up patent issues with Samsung’s Galaxy brand smartphones and tablets.

The reason Samsung swallowed the image as copycats is Apple is one of the firm’s major clients as many of the U.S. behemoth’s i-products use its flash memories.

But Samsung showed signs of changing its strategy after Apple won an injunction from a German court against the Galaxy Tab 10.1 early last month so that Korea’s foremost company cannot sell the tablet PC in Germany.

To add insult to injury, it had to pull its latest tablet version of the Galaxy Tab 7.7, which has a smaller screen than the Tab 10.1, from its unveiling event during the IFA tech fair in Berlin this month.

Samsung responded by filing an appeal against the Germany ruling and a countersuit against Apple in Australia where the sales of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 have also been prohibited.

And the world’s second-largest handset maker is looking to make preemptive strikes by targeting the iPhone 5.

“We are taking different tactics since we are quite confident,’’ said another Samsung executive on the condition of anonymity because he wasn’t allowed to speak publicly for Samsung.

“If Samsung wins in Germany that will give us a big breakthrough and so will other envisioned efforts against such products as the iPhone 5.’’

Samsung claimed that Apple’s iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4 and iPad 2 violate seven patents related to its wireless technology.

Targeting iPhone 5

The iPhone 5 has drawn interest even before officially hitting the market thanks to its attractive features and functionality.

It uses LG Display’s liquid crystal display (LCD), Samsung’s NAND flash memories and application processors (APs) and LG Innotek’s camera modules. It is also likely to have an 8-megapixel camera and an A5 dual-core processor.

Near-field communication (NFC), a feature to make it possible for the iPhone to be waved over a sensor for credit-card payments, will be added, officials said.

If Samsung manages to suspend the latest Apple handset it could affect SK Telecom and KT, the nation’s top two mobile carriers, authorized to sell iPhones.

KT spokesman Lee In-won said that KT will pay attention to the ongoing patent battles, while SK Telecom spokeswoman Kim Ji-won made no comment.

KT and SK Telecom have sold some 2.7 million and 400,000 iPhones in the local market, respectively. The iPhone 5 will make its debut here in the not-so-distant future through the two carriers.

Yet, there are chances that the standoff between Samsung and Apple may ease as the former is reluctant to make an enemy of the latter.

Such a mantra was well felt in statements by the Korean firm’s chief executive during a recent meeting with reporters.

“Apple is Samsung’s biggest customer. Hewlett-Packard (HP), Nokia and Sony were Samsung’s previous big clients, however, Apple is now a primary one. From our perspective, we are not entirely happy (about the litigations),’’ Samsung CEO Choi Gee-sung said.

 

 

Samsung Push For Ban on iPhone 5 Korea

Chuseok 2011

Friday, September 9th, 2011
Chuseok 2011

추석

For Koreans, the traditional Thanksgiving Holiday is called Chuseok. This year is falls on September 11-13.

Celebrated for centuries as the lunar-based (fifteenth day of the 8th lunar month) Fall Harvest Festival, Chuseok is among the most important of Korean holidays, a day filled with family and tradition. Millions of Koreans travel to join their family and celebrate traditional customs of Chuseok, including ancestral memorial rituals, followed by a day of special foods and family-focused activity.

 Chuseok 2011

One of the most popular of the traditional foods is song pyeon, which is a pine needle-flavored half moon-shaped rice cake.

Chuseok 2011

In Korea, during the days prior to the actually holiday, streets and stores are packed with shoppers buying food and gifts. Gift-giving is an important aspect of the holiday. Liquor is often given to colleagues and work supervisors.

As for travel, Chuseok is similar to the U.S. and Europe around the Christmas Holidays. Each year record numbers of Koreans jam the roads, rail lines, and airports with holiday traffic. In fact, most airline and train travel has been booked for months.

I’ve always advised my clients and friends not to travel to Korea during the Chuseok holiday.

Chuseok 2011

Outside Korea, please take a moment next Monday September 12 and wish your Korean colleagues a Happy Chuseok. (For those working with teams in Korea, contacting them NOW would be appropriate).

추석 잘 지 내 새요. or 추석 잘 보 내 새요.

 If you wish, this is an appropriate greeting:

 Chuseok jal ji nae sae yo. or Chuseok jal bo nae sae yo.

To conclude, even though many things have been changed by Korea’s rapid industrialization, urbanization, and globalization we find in the celebration of Chuseok that family remains the bedrock of Korean society.

Questions? Comment? Please feel free to contact me….

Chuseok 2011

Doing Business in Korea–A Recap

Friday, July 22nd, 2011
Doing Business in Korea  A Recap

By Don Southerton, KoreaLegal.org

On Wednesday July 20, 2011 the World Trade Center San Diego hosted an Asia Desk: Korea workshop.

The event centered on opportunities that Korea offered American businesses. I was honored to join KOTRA Trade Commissioner and Director General Won-Sok Yun. Together we shared “why Korea” offered US businesses and especially those in San Diego growth potential. KOTRA provides a number of resources for those doing business in Korea, including resolving disputes.

Doing Business in Korea  A Recap
Director General Won-Sok Yun
Doing Business in Korea  A Recap
Participants represented a wide range of business sectors

For details on the presentation, the WTCSD will be posting a link with the PPTs. ( Check their site).  For more information on doing business in Korea, please contact–Dsoutherton@bridgingculture.com

Doing Business in Korea  A Recap

Time for a KORUS FTA Update

Friday, July 15th, 2011
Time for a KORUS FTA Update

By Don Southerton, KoreaLegal.org Editor

Mid summer and the anticipated  early July target for signing the KORUS FTA has come and gone.  That said, it’s time for an update on both South Korea’s Assembly and the US Congress’ review of the treaty.

South Korea Update:  Senior lawmakers of the ruling party reiterated Monday that they would push for the ratification of the Korea-U.S. free trade agreement (KORUS FTA) during the August session of the National Assembly. 
“We are aiming to pass the FTA bill by the end of next month,” Rep. Hwang Woo-yeo, floor leader of the Grand National Party (GNP), said.

The four-term lawmaker dispelled growing concerns that the conservative party may use its majority status to ram through the contentious bill without proper deliberations with the opposition. 

The GNP, which controls 169 seats in the 299-member unicameral legislature, has unilaterally endorsed a number of major bills after physical clashes with rival parties, including budget proposals and an FTA with the European Union. 

When asked what his party would do if opposition parties forcibly block the passage of the trade pact, Hwang replied that his party will likely stick with the democratic process while it also remains pending in the U.S. Congress. 

“So long as Washington does not ram the trade deal through the Congress, the GNP will handle the matter through dialogue and negotiations with opposition parties,” he said. 

GNP spokeswoman Rep. Bae Eun-hee also noted that the GNP reaffirmed its position that it will push for the passage of the KORUS FTA at a joint workshop of the party’s Supreme Council and policy committee on Sunday. 

Last Wednesday, Hwang and the GNP’s new Chairman Hong Joon-pyo expressed their support for a prompt ratification of the much-delayed trade deal at a meeting with presidential chief of staff Yim Tae-hee. 

The FTA was signed in 2007, but the government’s move to get the bill ratified has been blocked partly because of strong objections from the main opposition Democratic Party (DP) and the country’s farming industry.

However, Chairman Hong, who is known as a strong advocator of the FTA, hinted that the GNP may have to risk a physical showdown with rival parties, suggesting a division within the ruling block. 

Hong reportedly said the GNP has no reason to hesitate in using its majority status to approve the bill as recent polls show some 65 percent of the public support the deal. 

Business experts forecast that once implemented, the KORUS FTA may increase the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) by 6 percent over the next decade. 

They claim that the bilateral deal could create as many as 34,000 jobs a year.

The fate of the deal, however, remains uncertain as the DP insists on renegotiations with Washington. 

Meanwhile, the GNP has announced that it will push the passage of a bill that calls for stricter aid distribution monitoring in North Korea and financial aid to non-governmental organizations that keep records of human rights abuses in the communist country.

Source: Korea Times

U.S. Update: President Barack Obama will soon send a free trade pact with South Korea to Congress for approval despite Republican threats to vote against it because of a retraining program for workers displaced by trade, White House Chief of Staff Bill Daley said on Thursday.

“There is no time to waste fighting politics as usual,” Daley said in a speech at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to the U.S.-Korea Business Council. “If we do not act before the August recess, American business will suffer.”

Obama faces a showdown with Republicans over his insistence that an extension of the nearly 50-year-old Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) retraining program be passed along with the Korea pact and two other pending free trade agreements with Colombia and Panama.

Republicans have objected to Obama’s plan to insert the TAA program into the implementing bill for the South Korea agreement, insisting that lawmakers be allowed to vote separately on the TAA and the trade pact.

The White House believes both could pass separately.

However, Daley said Republicans have yet to offer a “credible” plan that would prevent TAA opponents from blocking a vote on the program, which Democrats see as a vital safety net and many Republicans view as ineffective.

“We can no longer wait. If there’s no agreement on an alternative approach in the very near future, we will move forward to seek passage of the FTA (Free Trade Agreement) with TAA” included, Daley told the audience of U.S. and Korean business officials.

Daley said the White House expects the Korea agreement “to create or support 70,000 American jobs” through tariff cuts that will open the South Korean market to more U.S. exports.

Congress must act soon because a rival deal struck by the European Union with South Korea went into force on July 1, threatening U.S. market share in the longtime ally, he said.

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell has said he would vote against the Korean agreement if TAA is included in the implementing legislation for the deal.

AMERICAN JOBS ON THE LINE

But most business leaders recognize an extension of TAA has to be part of the mix, and don’t believe it is worth holding the agreement up over the issue.

“We can’t let differences over processes and procedures hold back these agreements any longer. American jobs and American standing in the world are on the line,” said U.S. Chamber of Commerce President Thomas Donohue.

The deal was originally negotiated during the administration of former President George W. Bush and business groups have been waiting four years for it to become law.

“We’ve seen first hand what these free trade agreements do after implementation,” said Mike Ducker, chief operating officer of FedEx Express, a division of FedEx.

“Not only does it create new commercial opportunities for our customers and greater demand for our services, it allows us to continue growing our operations and our work force around the world,” Ducker told Reuters in an interview.

Critics, including the AFL-CIO labor federation and Public Citizen’s Global Trade Watch, say tradedeals endanger U.S. jobs by cutting U.S. tariffs and encouraging companies to move their operations overseas.

A study by the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute says the Korean trade agreement could displace about 159,000 American jobs over seven years.

But Harrison Cook, vice president of international government affairs for Eli Lilly and Company, said the rival EU-South Korea agreement puts U.S. pharmaceutical companies at a disadvantage in a major market.

“All those tariff preferences are going to go to our Europeans competitors, not to us. That’s a significant consideration in this sector, where you do long-term contracting,” Cook told Reuters in an interview.

Source: Reuters

Time for a KORUS FTA Update

Samsung Fights Back

Friday, July 1st, 2011
Samsung Fights Back

By Don Southerton, KoreaLegal.org Editor

In my previous post, I shared how Apple continued to go after Samsung–taking the battle to the courts in Korea. Samsung has countered and file a complaint with the International Trade Commission.  My opinion is that much of this is but legal maneuvering designed to position each party best for a settlement. Neither could really expect bans on sale of their rival’s products.

I’d advise Apple’s lawyers to learn more about Samsung and their negotiation style and tactics… Apple leadership would benefit, too.  I can help with this.

SEOUL—Samsung Electronics Co.’s countersuits against Apple Inc.’s allegations of product copying have expanded to six countries, the company said Thursday, and now include a complaint with the International Trade Commission seeking to stop the sale of popular Apple products in the U.S.

The suits appear part of a broad strategy by Samsung to fight Apple’s lawsuit over the design of its smartphones and tablet computers with a barrage of litigation around the world.

By doing so, Samsung would build leverage that might force Apple to settle the initial case—which threatens to damage Samsung’s efforts to catch up to Apple in the smartphone and tablet markets, where profit margins are relatively high and market leadership is unsettled.

Samsung declined to answer questions about the strategy. A spokesman said the company doesn’t comment on pending legal matters. Apple declined to comment.

But the scope and ongoing expansion of the countersuits show the importance Samsung, the world’s largest technology manufacturer by revenue, has placed on countering Apple’s accusations that it copied Apple’s designs.

Apple is moving toward seeking a preliminary injunction in the initial case—filed in April in a federal court in San Jose, Calif.—that might limit Samsung’s ability to sell its smartphones and tablet PCs in the U.S., its biggest market.

With the latest filings earlier this week in Delaware and the Washington-based ITC, Samsung now has countersuits pending in California, South Korea, Japan, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom.

“To have lawsuits in many countries at the start, it’s the best way to protect their patents,” Jong Sang-jo, a law professor at Seoul National University, said of Samsung’s tactics.

Apple filed a follow-up suit against Samsung in South Korea last week. It alleged some of the same product-copying violations as in the U.S. case and accused Samsung of violating some of Apple’s technical patents.

The fight is one of many that have been filed over the past year over smartphone and tablet technology. But this one has gained greater attention because Apple and Samsung, while competing in consumer products, have a customer-supplier relationship in which Apple is the biggest buyer of Samsung’s device components, including chips and screens.

That has prompted speculation throughout the electronics industry that Apple might try to end its supplier relationship with Samsung. Such a move would prove costly to Samsung’s chip business, which has yielded the company’s highest profits for the past two years. It would also prove a challenge to Apple to find other suppliers that can provide parts at the volume and price that Samsung can.

Apple executives have said they expect the relationship to continue. A spokesman said Thursday that Samsung said it would fulfill its long-term contracts with Apple, adding: “We view the patent issue as entirely separate from our business relationship with Apple.”

Samsung chairman Lee Kun-hee in late April indirectly criticized Apple’s lawsuit as an attempt to restrain Samsung. “When a nail sticks out, [people] try to pound it down,” Mr. Lee told local reporters at the time.

Since Apple filed the first suit in late April, the legal approaches of the two companies have laid bare their different basic competencies and advantages in the marketplace.

Apple is asserting the primacy of its ability to design distinctive products, a skill that gives it the ability to charge premium prices and reap larger profit margins. By focusing on technology patents rather than design, Samsung is asserting that the development of components, related technologies and manufacturing prowess should be just as, or more, valuable.

In the market, Apple’s strategy has proved more profitable. It has been able to boost both its profit margins and its sales in recent years. Samsung, meanwhile, has had to contend with declining profit margins even as sales rose in its businesses.

For example, Samsung achieved a record profit last year, beating its previous record set in 2004, but it did so with smaller overall margins and a larger base of revenue, approximately twice the sales level it had in 2004.

Source: WSJ

 

Samsung Fights Back