LG Electronics (LG) announced on March 9 that it has won a patent infringement lawsuit against TCL Communication Technology Limited and two European affiliated entities (TCL).
Last week the Mannheim Regional Court in Germany ruled in favor of LG in a lawsuit the company filed against TCL in November 2019. The ruling found that TCL had infringed on claims in LG’s standard essential patent EP 2 627 146 B1 in Germany covering specific LTE technology.
Standard patent refers to essential technical patents that must be used to implement specific functions in related products.
Following the court’s judgment, LG is taking immediate steps to stop TCL from the unlawful use of LG’s technology without license.
TCL can appeal the judgment and a nullity action against the patent by TCL is pending at the German Federal Patent Court.
Of the two remaining lawsuits filed by LG against TCL, one took place on March 2 while the third lawsuit will be heard in May.
“Our patented technologies are the fruit of continuous research and development and are central to our ongoing competitiveness in the industry and what motivates our employees to think creatively,” said Cho Hwi-jae, vice president and head of LG’s Intellectual Property Center. “We believe it is our responsibility to vigorously protect our intellectual property against any and all unauthorized uses.”
LG is a global technological leader in the mobile communications field and possesses one of the largest portfolios of standard essential patents in the field.
According to TechIPm, a professional intellectual property research and consulting firm, LG ranked first globally for five consecutive years (2012 to 2016) in the 4G (LTE/LTE-A) standard essential patent category. And Germany-based market intelligence company IPlytics recently ranked LG third globally in 5G standard essential patent category with over 3,700 patent families.
