Sharp and Samsung have decided to end all ongoing patent infringement disputes over LCD displays this week, although it is unclear what the financial details are of the agreement.
“We have a confidentiality agreement but we can say these conditions will be in favor of Sharp,” added Sharp spokeswoman Miyuki Nakayama.
Sharp filed the first suit in 2007, in the U.S., claiming that Samsung infringed on five of its patents relating to LCD modules. The suit then expanded to South Korea, wherein Samsung countersued for patent infringement, as well. The suits expanded to Europe in 2008, before finally being taken in front of the International Trade Commission.
The new settlement includes patent cross-licensing agreements.
Result for: lcd displays
TechOn is reporting today that large OLED panels should become available mainstream starting in 2010, with LG Display planning 20-inch displays for this year and 40-inch displays by 2012.
Says VP Won Kim, in charge of OLED Sales & Marketing at the firm: “They may be expensive, but it will be possible to buy a 40-inch class OLED TV in 2012.”
OLED displays offer superior quality to LED LCD displays, and can be as thin as a a few millimeters.
The current 15-inch OLED display offered by LG has a contrast ratio of 100,000:1 and “color reproducibility range of 98% of the NTSC standard.”
Result for: lcd displays
Following three other companies before it, Hitachi has admitted to price fixing LCD displays, most of which were sold to Dell and Motorola.
Over the last few months, LG, Sharp and Chunghwa Picture Tubes have each admitted to price fixing the LCD market and were forced to pay fines ranging from $65 million USD for Chunghwa, to $400 million USD for LG, the largest group of the three.
According to the Department of Justice, Hitachi will cooperate with the ongoing investigation and will pay a $31 million USD fine for the price fixing of “TFT-LCD sold to Dell for use in desktop monitors and notebook computers from April 1, 2001, through March 31, 2004.”
“Hitachi joins three other multinational companies who have admitted to their involvement in fixing prices for LCD panels sold to U.S. companies and that have already paid criminal fines totaling more than $585 million,” added Scott D. Hammond, Acting Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Department’s Antitrust Division. “This case should send a strong message to multinational companies operating in the United States that when it comes to enforcing the U.S. antitrust laws we mean business.”
