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Picvue, Corning Inc settle in patent infringement suit

Taiwanese liquid-crystal-display (LCD) screen maker Picvue Electronics Ltd (碧悠電子) yesterday said it clinched a settlement with the world's biggest LCD glass supplier, Corning Inc, over a patent infringement lawsuit.

Picvue Electronics would pay Corning a total of US$15 million in damage to settle patent infringement disputes between its LCD glass affiliate and Corning, the company said in a statement submitted to the Taiwan Stock Exchange. Picvue Optoelectronics International Co (碧悠光電), the subsidiary of Picvue Electronics, make glass substrates, or mother glass, which form the base of thin-film transistor liquid crystal displays (TFT-LCDs).

Picvue Electronics said it had already paid US$1 million and will pay the remaining US$500,000 in the current quarter. Shares of Picvue Electronics closed up NT$0.07 to NT$2.22 on the Taiwan Stock Exchange.

Corning filed suit against Picvue and Eglasstrek GmbH of Germany in June of 2002, alleging they had stolen trade secrets and infringed Corning's copyright on fusion-draw technology for producing glass substrates used in active matrix liquid crystal displays (AMLCD).

Donald McNaughton, vice president of Corning's information display division, said that the company took the action to protect its shareholders' investment.

"We will not let others misappropriate our intellectual property," McNaughton said.

Over the last few years, Corning has been investing to expand capacity to keep pace with growing AMLCD demand, including the opening of a facility in Tainan, Taiwan, according to the US company.
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