LCD panel maker Chunghwa Picture Tubes Ltd (中華映管) yesterday said it had teamed up with a US patent-holding company as an increasing number of technology firms worldwide resort to patent lawsuits to ward off potential competition.
It did not disclose the financial terms of the partnership.
The Taoyuan-based company said in a statement it had signed “a set of multi-faceted intellectual property agreements” with the Bellevue, Washington-based Intellectual Ventures, granting Chunghwa Picture access to the US firm’s portfolio of more than 35,000 intellectual property assets.
The agreement also allows Chunghwa Picture to participate in Intellectual Ventures’ “IP for Defense Program,” increasing its ammunition in potential patent lawsuits, as the program offers customers key patents to support counter-assertion, reduce liabilities and achieve favorable licensing terms, the company said.
“In recent years, with the rapid advancement in display technologies, the role played by intellectual property rights [IPR] has become increasingly important,” Chunghwa Picture chief technology officer Liang Jang-jeng (梁建錚) said in the statement.
“To prevent potential future IPR disputes from affecting the competitiveness of our products, we have not only worked to enhance our ability to create IPs, but we have also entered into a contract with Intellectual Ventures to strengthen our position in ‘IP for Defense’ and in IP negotiations in order to decrease potential losses for the company,” he added.
AU Optronics Corp (AUO, 友達光電), the nation’s second-largest LCD panel maker, and South Korea’s Samsung Electronics Co are currently suing each other over LCD patent claims at the US International Trade Commission. The Taiwanese company won a patent lawsuit against LG Displays Co in May last year.
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