LG Electronics, the world's second-largest plasma display panel (PDP) maker, said yesterday it has filed a countersuit in the US District Court of Texas against Hitachi Ltd (nyse: HIT - news - people ), Hitachi America Ltd and Fujitsu Hitachi Plasma Display Ltd, over a patents dispute.
LG said it is seeking compensation and a patent infringement injunction covering seven of its PDP development.
'We cannot comment on the issue since we have not received the complaint,' a Hitachi spokesman, who declined to be named, said.
The law suit follows Hitachi's legal action against LG in April for patent infringement on similar technologies.
'Intellectual property is one of LG's essential assets, which we will always uncompromisingly protect,' said Jeong Hwan Lee, executive vice-president and head of LG Electronics' intellectual property center.
LG and Hitachi have been trying to reach a settlement on PDP technology patents since 2005 and Hitachi's April law suit follows an impasse in their discussions following vastly different evaluations of the patents.
The South Korean electronics firm also cited difference of opinion over the proprietary nature of each company's PDP technologies.
LG said it holds about 2,300 international patents for PDP technologieshttp://www.forbes.com/afxnewslimited/feeds/afx/2007/06/19/afx3833490.html
