Tech Shout!

LCD-maker Sharp Corporation filed a lawsuit against Samsung Electronics on August 6, 2007 for infringement of five of its patents relating to LCD technology.

The lawsuit was filed in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas against Samsung Electronics and its US subsidiaries Samsung Electronics America and Samsung Telecommunications America.

Sharp has alleged that Samsung infringes LCD-related patents for the following products:

Liquid crystal display (LCD) modules manufactured by Samsung and sold in the US by Samsung
LCD TVs and LCD monitors which incorporate the LCD modules manufactured by Samsung and sold in the US by SCE

Mobile phones which incorporate the LCD modules manufactured by Samsung and sold in the US

Sharp has requested in its complaint against Samsung that the Court award compensatory damages to the company. Sharp has also requested the Court to prohibit the sales of the Samsung products that infringe Sharp’s patents. Not only that, Sharp has also requested a jury trial.

The five patents involved with the lawsuit are US patent Numbers 4,649,383, 5,760,855, 6,052,162, 7,027,024 and 7,057,689, all of which relate to LCD modules.

Interestingly, Sharp has always been a leading company in the development of the liquid crystal industry. The company also holds a number of PCD-related patents in the US, Japan and other countries as a result of its extensive research efforts.

Sharp has also been known to license its patents for general LCD technologies to LCD panel manufacturers. One such manufacturer happened to be Samsung in whom Sharp had negotiated good faith for an LCD patent license since 2006.

However, Sharp has apparently been unable to resolve this matter through negotiations with Samsung. Thus, the company was forced to file this current lawsuit against Samsung for the sake of protecting its intellectual property.