LG and Sony reach patent settlement, drop a total of 24 lawsuits

Electronics giants LG and Sony announced on Thursday that they have settled a total of 24 patent-infringement lawsuits which covered televisions, Blu-ray devices and mobile phone technologies, agreeing to cross-license each other’s patents.

Both companies refused to disclose further details of the agreement, instead citing that the companies had reached a mutual agreement which is expected to put an end to months of legal battles between the Korean and Japanese companies.

Sony originally filed a federal lawsuit against LG at the end of 2010, claiming that LG’s mobile handsets sold in the U.S infringed on patented Sony technologies without permission. A complaint was also filed with the U.S International Trade Commission.

LG immediately responded with a lawsuit of its own, stating that the Japanese company had infringed on eight of its patents. Over the months that followed, the two vendors exchanged more countercharges, expanding their disputes to Europe, which saw a request for a ban on imports and sales of Sony’s PlayStation 3 console, with existing units confiscated.

The cross-licensing deal will allow each party to use intellectual properties without paying additional royalties, with the range of shared technologies to be decided later in the year, LG said.

“We know that reconciliation is better than fighting, even though we would gain much from a lawsuit,” said LG Electronics. “We’ve tried to settle the cases and now we have reached an agreement.”