The reconciliation between LG and Samsung following their 18-month-long feud over OLED patents looks to be over, after LG Electronics instructed its rival to pay for its use of the technology, claiming Samsung Electronics and Samsung Display have violated its patents.
The Yonhap News Agency reports that LG is also “doubtful” that Samsung has dropped a patent suit against it, as the company claimed it did yesterday. LG has not provided a figure for compensation, but it is said to have invited its rival to discuss payment options.
The company’s insistence that Samsung pays for the use of its OLED technology — which is used for screens in TVs, phones and more — looks set to reopen the feud that began when 11 of its staff members were accused of leaking confidential secrets to Samsung in 2011.
Things heated up in the latter half of 2012, as LG served Samsung with a patent suit, while Samsung made moves to annul seven LG patents. These actions were both reversed last month when Samsung dropped its request and LG did the same with its injunction on the Galaxy Tab 10.1 as part of a pact to iron out the issues away from the court room.
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Things had reached the point that there was, perhaps premature, talk of the potential to cross license the patents at the center of the dispute. Now, with LG now demanding compensation and pointing the finger, such co-operation is looking unlikely.
The companies are also quarreling over other patents too. Earlier this week, reports suggested LG and Samsung will lock horns over eye-tracking patents in the wake of the feature appearing in the new Samsung Galaxy S4 and LG Optimus G Pro. A day before the Galaxy S4 was unveiled, LG also announced it would introduce an update in April to bring the scrolling feature to its flagship device.
LG was awarded patents for eye-tracking technology in 2009, but Samsung claims it is using a different system that does not infringe on its rival. LG has vowed to take a close look at the Galaxy S4 when it is released next month.
Headline image via David Becker/Getty Images/AFP
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