Saturday, November 14, 2009

Samsung Loses LCD Patent Dispute, Sharp Wins

Samsung lost a LCD patent-infringement case brought upon by Sharp.

The US International Trade Commission upheld a ruling by an ITC administrative judge on 9 Nov. stating that Samsung infringed on four of Sharp’s LCD patents. The LCD patents are related to improving viewing angles and response times. The ITC also said that Samsung must stop selling displays in the US that infringe on those patents. Sharp originally filed the suit against Samsung in March 2008. Samsung claimed that the company expects no major impact on its LCD business from the ITC’s ruling and is confident of its ability to meet demand for its LCD products. Samsung also noted that the company has no plans to negotiate with Sharp on the issue.

According to James Chung, Samsung spokesman:
We are fully committed to honor our responsibility to our business partners and are taking appropriate actions to meet the market demand for Samsung LCD panels and products without any interruption.

Presidential Review Samsung is required to post a bond worth 100% of the affected products pending a review of the ITC ruling by President Barack Obama. Obama can overturn the ban if he finds the ruling contrary to the public’s interest. The presidential review period can take up to 60 days. The ITC case number is 337-TA-631. The import ban should not have any impact on the LCD goods that have already been imported into the US. Also because of the duration of the presidential review Samsung’s holiday season sales should have little to no impact.

Vertical Alignment Sharp, Samsung, AU Optronics (AUO), Chi Mei Optoelectronics (CMO) and many other LCD manufacturers make use of LCD panel technology that is based on VA or Vertical Alignment to enhance viewing angles. The few exceptions include LG Display and IPS Alpha that make use of a different technology called IPS or In-Plane Switching to improve viewing angles.

Source:DisplayBlog by Jin on November 10, 2009

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