Pioneer has filed suit in an American court against Samsung for what the Japanese firm contends are patent violations of its plasma HD/SD by the South Korea manufacturer. Samsung, the world's largest plasma display maker, reportedly will file a countersuit in the near future.
Pioneer's legal action this week is hardly the first of its kind affecting Pioneer and several of its competitors, according to Reuters. There have been a number of intellectual property suits among Japanese companies filed against other Asian firms, although this is reportedly the first time Pioneer has initiated litigation for alleged infringement of a specific patent.
Besides Pioneer, Samsung also has been involved in patent disagreements with Matsushita Electric Industrial (Panasonic brand) and Fujitsu. Samsung has been holding talks with Pioneer for more than a year and a half about possible licensing agreements, with no success. (LG Electronics and Matsushita signed cross-licensing agreements with Pioneer in early 2005.)
The disputes center on a pair of patents (re: electrode configuration and an unspecified production step) that the firm said affects overall screen quality and brightness.
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