Samsung, said to be the world’s biggest producer of large-sized LCD panels, is launching a countersuit against major rival Sharp, Reuters reports. Sharp filed its initial case against Samsung in August, with a second suit coming earlier this month, through a court in Seoul, South Korea; the company is accusing Samsung of multiple patent infringements, though these have not been specified.
Samsung’s motion is a direct retaliation, also alleging patent infringement in two different suits filed through courts in Delaware and Tokyo. It is moreover requesting an investigation by the US International Trade Commission, a procedure which could mire Sharp in yet deeper legal work.
The battle is said to be representative of an increasing problem in Asia, in which competitors exploit intellectual property lawsuits to gain an advantage over fierce competition. Prices for LCD TVs have fallen dramatically in the past two years, and the dominant seller in the US is now California’s Vizio, which produces approximately 13 percent of all the LCD sets sold in the country.
