LG fires back at Osram over LED patents

LG Electronics Inc. and its affiliate LG Innotek Co. said Friday that they have filed a complaint with the Korea Trade Commission (KTC) to seek import bans on Osram's products for violating their patents. The move comes after Osram, a lighting-making unit of Germany-based Siemens AG, accused LG and Samsung Electronics Co. of infringing upon its light-emitting diode (LED) technology, filing complaints last month with the U.S. International Trade Commission, a U.S. district court and a German court. In response, LG lodged a lawsuit against Osram with a Seoul court in the same month, seeking cash compensation and a court order to block the German company from using its LED patents. In addition, LG Electronics and LG Innotek said in a statement that they requested the Seoul-based commission to investigate seven cases involving LED lighting and LED chip and packaging technologies used in vehicles. The commission can impose import bans on products found to violate patents. LG Electronics, the world's second-largest TV maker, and LG Innotek, its electronics components-making affiliate, count LED technology as one of their future growth engines. The companies plan to file additional complaints in the U.S., China and other major countries, the statement said.