By Don Southerton, Korea Legal Editor
IP issues interest me. For one, as Korea moves from a heavy industy, labor intensive export production model to more gray matter sectors like bio tech, Green and renewable, and high tech I see more and more IP issues surfacing. On another level, vicious competition within the high tech sectors coupled with internal corporate pressure to perform add to the situation.
Seems like Samsung at the center of many controversies. It’s shear and scale had lots to do with this…
DOW JONES NEWSWIRES Feb. 4, 2010
The U.S. International Trade Commission said it has voted to embark on an investigation into allegations that Samsung Electronics Co. (005930.SE) has violated Sharp Corp.’s (6753.TO) patents used to make components in flat-screen televisions.
The latest complaint comes after the Korean electronics giant in December filed a complaint with the U.S. commission against Sharp alleging that the Japanese firm infringed on Samsung’s patents for liquid crystal display devices. It joins a growing list of disputes about patent breaches in the highly competitive electronics industry as companies strive to protect their intellectual property and cutting-edge technologies.
Patent-related legal disputes happen often in the flat-panel display industry, although in most cases they end up in cross-licensing deals.
Officials at both Samsung and Sharp said they had no immediate comment on the issue.
In a statement on its Web site, the ITC said the products involved the probe are LCD modules for products used in televisions.
The ITC is beginning the investigation after Sharp filed a complaint against Samsung on Jan. 8. In the complaint, Sharp asked that the ITC issue a cease-and-desist order on the export and sale of such products.
“By instituting this investigation, the U.S. ITC has not yet made any decision on the merits of the case,” the commission said in the statement.
The ITC’s chief administrative law judge will assign the case to one of the ITC’s six administrative law judges, who will schedule and hold a hearing.
The administrative law judge will then make an initial determination as to whether there is a violation, it said.
Samsung in November lost a patent infringement case raised by Sharp in 2008 that involved LCDs. In that case, the U.S. ITC ruled that Samsung infringed on four of Sharp’s patents for technology to improve the picture quality of LCDs and said the South Korean company should stop selling devices in the U.S. that trespassed on the patents.
Link http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20100204-722715.html?mod=WSJ_World_MIDDLEHeadlinesAsia
Tags: Don Southerton Korea consultant, IP Korea, IP Samsung, Korea consulting expert witness, Korea law, Korea legal, Samsung Electronics