LG sues Quanta over patent infringement

Korean giant seeks injunction against laptop manufacturer over alleged DVD standards infringement.

By Rene Millman, 6 Jul 2007 at 13:10

South Korean electronics giant LG has filed a lawsuit against Taiwanese laptop manufacturer Quanta alleging that it has infringed patents relating to its DVD technology.

LG filed the suit with the District Court of Wisconsin. It claims that Quanta, which supplies computer hardware to Apple, Dell, Gateway, HP, Toshiba and Sony, allegedly infringed four of its patents on DVD standards.

LG is demanding unspecified damages in relation to the case and is seeking an immediate injunction to prevent use of its technology by Quanta.

"LG's proprietorship of DVD technologies is widely recognised throughout industry and the unlicensed use of our intellectual property is not acceptable under any circumstances," said Jeong Hwan Lee, executive vice president and head of LG Electronics Intellectual Property Centre in a statement.

LG previously filed a lawsuit against Quanta for infringing upon patents for its personal computer technology, in the US District Court in the Northern District of California in 2000. The companies are currently awaiting the court's final decision, which is expected to be handed down during the first half of 2008.

"We are studying the contents of the litigation. Our stance is to respect other companies' intellectual property rights," a Quanta spokeswoman told Taiwanese newspaper Taipei Times.

In a statement later released by Quanta, the company clarified matters and said that it had assigned legal representatives to work on the matter.

"R&D is crucial to Quanta's success, and the company highly values and respects intellectual property rights. Quanta is committed to defending its reputation and acting in the best interest of its shareholders," it said.