This article was published on February 4, 2013

Samsung and LG take the high road, settle OLED technology patent dispute outside the courtroom


Samsung and LG take the high road, settle OLED technology patent dispute outside the courtroom

The ongoing scrap patent between LG and Samsung’s display businesses appears to have met a mutually agreed close without the need for legal action after the duo agreed to resolve their disagreement.

Korean news agency Yonhap reports that the two companies have vowed to resolve their dispute over organic light-emitting diode (OLED) panel technologies “through dialogue” rather than the court room.

Recent months have seen both companies threaten legal action over an issue which began in 2011 when Samsung Display suspected that 11 of its researchers had leaked details of its OLED technology, which underpin the display system in smartphones, tablets, TVs and other devices, to rival LG Display.

The most recent developments saw LG serve Samsung with a patent suit, while Samsung moved to annul seven LG patents when it contacted a court in November 2012.

The battle between cooked up in latter part of 2012 as September saw LG seek an injunction against some of Samsung’s flagship devices, including the Galaxy S III, the Galaxy Tab 7.7 and the Galaxy Note. That development came just weeks after Samsung itself took action in response to a product leak last year which, it says, saw LG deceptively obtain details of 18 “confidential technologies”.

The Korean giant was said to have been seeking 1 billion won (around $920,000) in compensation for each technology.

LG repeatedly professed its innocence around the incidents. Samsung pressed its rival for an apology last year but, instead of responding as asked, LG threatened to sue for defamation.

Image via popculturegeek / Flickr

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