Samsung seals cross-licensing deal with Sharp, ends patent disputes

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By Lee Youkyung
SEOUL, Feb. 8 (Yonhap) -- Samsung Electronics Co., the world's largest maker of
liquid-crystal-display (LCD) and LCD TVs, said Monday that it has agreed with
Sharp Corp. to share patents over LCD panel and module technology.
The two parties signed a cross-licensing deal on Friday, giving each firm access
to patents owned by the other company and ending all disputes, Samsung said in a
regulatory filing.
The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
The two rival LCD makers from South Korea and Japan have been riddled in patent
litigations for more than two years in Japan, Europe and the United States since
Sharp claimed in August 2007 that Samsung infringed on its patents related to LCD
TVs.
Samsung also filed a complaint against Japan's largest LCD maker in the U.S.
International Trade Commission (ITC), winning an order that Sharp violated one of
its patents in June.
The Friday deal ends all previous orders made by the ITC, including import bans
on LCD products deemed to have violated the other company's patents, a Samsung
spokesman said.
ylee@yna.co.kr
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