Panel supplier rejects LG.Philips' patent accusation

Chunghwa Picture Tubes Ltd (中華映管), the nation's No. 3 flat-panel supplier, yesterday rejected a patent infringement accusation by LG.Philips LCD Co, saying the South Korean firm's lawsuit was intended to "stifle competition."

In a filing to the Taiwan Stock Exchange yesterday, Chunghwa Picture Tubes said it had acquired substantial evidence showing it had not applied the patent as indicated by LG.Philips in the lawsuit.

"LG.Philips is under huge pressure now and intends to disrupt the proceedings by media coverage," Chunghwa Picture Tubes said in the statement.

Chunghwa Picture Tubes lawyer Glen Rhodes, who is with the Howrey firm in San Francisco, said the defendants "didn't steal anything."

The patent isn't valid because the invention isn't new and LG.Philips is "a bully" trying to stifle competition, he said.

The Taiwanese company's reaction came after LG.Philips LCD Co, the world's second-largest maker of liquid-crystal displays (LCDs), asked a jury to award US$52.4 million over claims that Chunghwa Picture Tubes, its parent Tatung Co (大同) and ViewSonic Corp are infringing a US patent.

In another filing made to the Taiwan Stock Exchange yesterday, Tatung said LG.Philips had filed several patent suits against Taiwanese rivals in recent years.

After losing a similar lawsuit against Tatung and Chunghwa Picture Tubes in the UK, LG.Philips has appealed, the statement said.

Chunghwa Picture Tubes said LG.Philips dropped another lawsuit against it in May, after it proved that the patent LG.Philips claimed to possess was invalid, according to its statement.

Shares of Chunghwa Picture Tubes were not substantially affected by the news, however, rising NT$0.06 to close at NT$6.92, while Tatung, a leading home appliance maker in Taiwan, fell NT$0.45 to NT$10.9.

ViewSonic, based in Walnut, California, uses some Chunghwa Picture Tubes liquid-crystal modules in its televisions and is therefore also being sued by LG.Philips.

The company refused to comment, saying the case was being handled by its lawyers.

LG.Philips filed suits against the three companies in November last year in a US District Court in Wilmington, Delaware.

The dispute involves a patent for a method to prevent static electricity from causing short circuits during screen manufacturing.