German lighting manufacturer Osram GmbH has filed additional patent infringement complaints against South Korean companies amid a global wave of intellectual property disputes in the technology sector.
Munich-based Osram, a unit of German industrial engineering giant Siemens AG, and Osram Opto Semiconductors GmbH said yesterday in a statement that they have recently filed new complaints and legal actions against Samsung Electronics Co and LG Electronics Inc units.
They include a filing with the Seoul Central District Court alleging infringement of Osram patents that calls for the South Korean companies to stop using Osram LED, or light emitting diode, technology without authorization. Also among the actions was a complaint against LG Innotek Co filed with the Korea Trade Commission over alleged -infringement of four LED patents and seeking a ban on exports of some LG Innotek products.
“We respect the property rights of other companies and expect the same from other market participants,” Aldo Kamper, the CEO of Osram Opto Semiconductors, said in the statement.
LG Innotek and Samsung LED Co have also filed various complaints against Osram alleging patent infringement. The spat over intellectual -property for lighting is playing out in South Korea, Germany, Japan, China and the US.
LG Innotek said yesterday in an e-mail that it “would take action after checking out Osram’s petition contents.”
Samsung LED had no immediate comment.
“Osram was forced to take legal action against LG and Samsung in order to stop the unauthorized use of its technology as LG and Samsung refuse to sign any license agreements or pay royalties,” Stefan Schmidt, Osram’s head of media relations, said in an e-mail.
Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns. The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of nearly 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at US schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see
MAJOR DROP: CEO Tim Cook, who is visiting Hanoi, pledged the firm was committed to Vietnam after its smartphone shipments declined 9.6% annually in the first quarter Apple Inc yesterday said it would increase spending on suppliers in Vietnam, a key production hub, as CEO Tim Cook arrived in the country for a two-day visit. The iPhone maker announced the news in a statement on its Web site, but gave no details of how much it would spend or where the money would go. Cook is expected to meet programmers, content creators and students during his visit, online newspaper VnExpress reported. The visit comes as US President Joe Biden’s administration seeks to ramp up Vietnam’s role in the global tech supply chain to reduce the US’ dependence on China. Images on
New apartments in Taiwan’s major cities are getting smaller, while old apartments are increasingly occupied by older people, many of whom live alone, government data showed. The phenomenon has to do with sharpening unaffordable property prices and an aging population, property brokers said. Apartments with one bedroom that are two years old or older have gained a noticeable presence in the nation’s six special municipalities as well as Hsinchu county and city in the past five years, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房產集團) found, citing data from the government’s real-price transaction platform. In Taipei, apartments with one bedroom accounted for 19 percent of deals last
US CONSCULTANT: The US Department of Commerce’s Ursula Burns is a rarely seen US government consultant to be put forward to sit on the board, nominated as an independent director Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday nominated 10 candidates for its new board of directors, including Ursula Burns from the US Department of Commerce. It is rare that TSMC has nominated a US government consultant to sit on its board. Burns was nominated as one of seven independent directors. She is vice chair of the department’s Advisory Council on Supply Chain Competitiveness. Burns is to stand for election at TSMC’s annual shareholders’ meeting on June 4 along with the rest of the candidates. TSMC chairman Mark Liu (劉德音) was not on the list after in December last