Thursday, 5 July 2007

LG Sues Quanta Over DVD Patents

South Korea based LG Electronics, the world’s top DVD maker, has filed a lawsuit against the world's largest laptop contract manufacturer over the infringement of four patents related to DVD technology...

South Korea based LG Electronics, the world’s top DVD maker, has filed a lawsuit against the world's largest laptop contract manufacturer over the infringement of four patents related to DVD technology.

LG filed the suit with a US district court in Wisconsin on July 3 and is seeking an injunction against Quanta's use of the technology and monetary compensation, the company said in a statement.

LG is seeking an injunction against Taiwan's Quanta Computer to put a stop to its use of the technology, as well as cash compensation.

LG alleged that Quanta has been using the infringing technology to produce laptop PCs that have been supplied to US computer vendors.

"Quanta has been using these patents without LG's permission to produce notebook computers that were supplied to US computer companies."

Quanta's major clients include top brands such as Apple Inc., Hewlett-Packard Co. Dell Inc., and Sony Corp.

The two companies have another outstanding lawsuit in the US on which LG expects a decision in the first half of 2008. LG sued Quanta in the US District Court of Northern California in 2000 over the alleged infringement of PC-related patents. Originally, the trial court decided in favour of Quanta, but the US Court of Appeals overturned the verdict. LG said it expects the ruling in this case to be in its favour.