First an agreement inked with IBM, now one with Sharp

AU Optronics Corp (友達光電) said yesterday it has signed with Japan's Sharp Corp a patent cross-licensing agreement after it signed a similar pact with International Business Machines Corp last month.

The agreement with Sharp, effective between July 1 this year and June 30, 2010, allows each party to use the other party's patents covering thin-film-transistor liquid-crystal-display (TFT-LCD) panels for personal computer applications, a statement said.

It did not provide financial terms.

"The agreement covers computers, and we're in friendly talks for other applications" such as televisions, Hsiao Ya-wen (蕭雅文), an AU spokeswoman, said yesterday.

AU said on June 30 it signed an agreement to buy about 170 US patents related to LCD technology from IBM, covering almost all LCD-related technology. The agreement covers IBM's counterpart patents in markets such as Japan, South Korea and Taiwan.