A Move to Keep Korean Display Makers in Check
JOLED, an OLED manufacturer in Japan, filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Samsung Electronics, Samsung Display, and Samsung Electronics' U.S. subsidiary with the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas on June 22, the company announced in its website.
A company jointly set up by Sony, Panasonic and other Japanese companies, JOLED also filed a similar complaint against Samsung Electronics Co. and its German subsidiary with the District Court of Mannheim in Germany.
JOLED claims that Samsung Electronics and others used its OLED panel technology without permission for Galaxy smartphones sold in the United States. Industry sources believe that the patent was related to OLED material technology. JOLED holds about 4,000 patents related to organic matters.
On June 19, JOLED announced mass production of OLED panels for TVs, declaring war against LG Display, which has strengths in large OLED panels.
JOLED had technologies related to OLEDs but lacked the funds needed to develop large OLEDs. It received investments worth 20 billion yen from CSOT, a Chinese display company. Chinese and Japanese display manufacturers are stepping up efforts to catch up with Korean companies in OLED technologies through the joint development of large OLEDs.