ITRI Sues LGE for IP Infringement

Taipei, Dec. 2, 2010 CENS --In a demonstration of its support for Taiwanese enterprises in the global intellectual-property market, the semi-official Industrial Technology Research Institute ITRI has sued LGE of South Korea for infringing on its 22 U.S. patents in the fields of mobile phone, air conditioner, blue-ray optical disk drive, and LCD liquid crystal display TV.

The move is regarded as a counteroffensive to IP-related charges filed by South Korean firms against Taiwanese enterprises frequently, in the hope of forcing South Korean firms to seek settlement with Taiwanese counterparts.

The suit was filed at Tyler federal court, in Texas, on November 26. Industry insiders pointed out that it is designed to help AmTRAN Technology counter the IP charge filed by LGE for its Vizio LCD TV two years ago. AmTRAN has reportedly purchased ITRI`s patent right in order to cope with the legal action of LGE.

The case is similar to the IP litigation between Acer and HP three years ago, when the former successfully uses the support of the ITRI to force the latter in accepting a settlement.

Backed by a huge pool of 14,000 patents, the ITRI is well equipped to engage in such a legal strife. Last year, it obtained 397 U.S. patent rights, the highest among research institutions worldwide, according to the statistics of IFI Patent Intelligence.

To help local enterprises cope with IP problem in the global market, the government has also decided to set up an IP fund company, which will broker the exchanges of patent rights among local enterprises and purchase of IP right from domestic industrial or academic research institutions, mainly in the fields of notebook PC, LED light-emitting diode and mobile phone.