Samsung Loses Ruling in LCD Patent Dispute

Samsung Electronics Co., the world's biggest supplier of liquid-crystal-display panels by sales, has lost a patent-infringement case involving LCDs that was brought by Sharp Corp. in the U.S.

The U.S. International Trade Commission Monday ruled that Samsung had infringed on four Sharp patents relating to LCDs and said the South Korean company should stop selling devices in the U.S. that trespassed on the patents.

"We believe that the ITC's ruling has made it clear that ITC has consistently supported Sharp's claim that LCD products of Samsung violated Sharp's patents," a Sharp spokeswoman said.

In 2008, Sharp filed the suit against Samsung with the ITC, alleging Samsung infringed four of its patents related to a technology to improve the picture quality of LCDs.

Patent-infringement lawsuits are common in the highly competitive flat-panel-display industry, and over the past few years several LCD makers have been fighting to protect their patents in court.

Samsung said it expects no major impact on its business from the U.S. trade commission's ruling. Samsung added that the ruling won't affect the company's ability to meet market demand.

"We are fully committed to honoring 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," the company said.

Samsung also said it has no plans to negotiate with Sharp on the issue, including cross-license pacts.

The commission's ruling will be delivered to U.S. President Barack Obama and to the U.S. trade representative for review. Samsung is required to deposit a bond equivalent to the value of the infringing products should it continue to import them during the presidential review.