The U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware ruled April 30 that Taiwan-based AU Optronics Corp. has not infringed on four patent rights belonging to LG Display Co. Ltd.
The April 30 ruling follows a February ruling by the same court that LGD has violated four patent rights belonging to AUO.
After learning of the court’s decision, AUO said May 2 it will seek an injunction prohibiting LGD from exporting and selling products in the U.S. found to have infringed on AUO’s patented technologies.
AUO added that customers of LGD who wish to avoid lawsuits brought by AUO should immediately cease purchasing any unauthorized products from LGD for sale or use in the U.S.
The legal disputes between the two firms began in December 2006, when LGD filed a patent infringement claim against AUO and Chi Mei Optoelectronics Corp., another Taiwanese maker of liquid crystal display panels.
AUO subsequently filed a counter-claim against LGD, claiming that LGD had infringed on its patent rights.
In June 2009 during trial LGD demanded over US$690 million in damages from AUO.
The four AUO patents that the court found LGD had infringed upon are U.S. Patent Number 6,778,160, No. 6,689,629, No. 7,125,157 and No. 7,090,506. These technologies help improve response time, improve the reliability of LCDs, solve the problem of defects in the displayed images, and provide a very compact structure useful for small handheld devices, the local firm pointed out.
AUO indicated in February the possibility of seeking hundreds of millions in damages against LGD.
Industry sources estimated that the latest court ruling could create more than US$1 billion in value for the Taiwanese panel maker, because the infringing LGD products cover a wide variety of applications. These include LCD panels for television sets, monitors, notebook personal computers, public information displays and mobile phones.
The latest court ruling marks the first time in a decade of LCD development that a panel maker based in Taiwan has scored a triumph in an overseas patent litigation suit. (HML-HZW)