AU Optronics Asks For US Ban On LG LCD Sales 155
eldavojohn writes "After a lengthy patent case, complete with countersuits, AU Optronics has asked for an injunction against all LCD products made by LG. While this may not sound serious, LG is the number one manufacturer of LCDs used in LCD TVs, laptop PCs and desktop monitors. A quarter of global LCDs shipped in March were LG brand. The bizarre part of the story is that LG Display struck first against AU Optronics way back in 2006 with a patent suit to the tune of $690 million, and in 2009, when the case finally went to court, AUO filed counter-claims of patent infringement that are now coming to fruition. So before you call AUO a patent troll, keep in mind that LGD shot first."
Doesn't Look Good For LG (Score:5, Informative)
"The court concludes that AUO has established by preponderance of the evidence that LGD literally infringes the patents asserted by AUO in this action, and that LGD has not established by clear and convincing evidence that the asserted patents are invalid," wrote Judge Joseph J. Farnan Jr., in a 77-page verdict.
If you're LG that is not what you want to hear.
Not patent troll in any case (Score:5, Informative)
Re:I normally hate patent trolls, but... (Score:3, Informative)
On the plus side, everybody else is just throwing out perfectly good (but bulky) CRTs, so you should be able to get nice big ones for cheap; just use craigslist.
I guess another option is to buy plasma. It's basically CRT, just with gas discharge instead of an electron gun. But it's still phosphors generating the colors. Granted, they only really sell plasma TVs and not computer monitors, and burn-in will also be a major problem.
LED may also do what you want; AFAIK those things react very quickly.
I was wondering why TFA read like a Slashvert (Score:5, Informative)
Until I read it to the end:
SOURCE AU Optronics Corp.
I'm not disputing the facts, but I'm damn sure a press release from AUO is not the best place to get an impartial view...
(And no, I'm not an LG sockpuppet).
Not Sure How to Remedy That (Score:5, Informative)
Until I read it to the end:
SOURCE AU Optronics Corp.
I'm not disputing the facts, but I'm damn sure a press release from AUO is not the best place to get an impartial view...
Well, I submitted the article. I guess I don't know what to do about the second link. The first link is by IDG and should be unbiased. Every single article I could find about that ruling linked back to AOU's news service [auo.com]. Granted I didn't search the entire internet but everyone's spewing the same thing [yahoo.com]. I couldn't find anything about this on LG Display's site [lgdisplay.com]. I couldn't find any court records from the super awesome District of Delaware's web site [uscourts.gov] (holy sh*t, 1993 called and wants your site back).
... if you had offered a better link I wouldn't even be responding to this but I came up empty. I guess next time I submit a PR from a company I should put a disclaimer in the summary? It was meant to augment the first link, not be the focus. That was the only link where the patents were named. Any suggestions on how to make submissions better are welcomed. Suppose it's time I installed RECAP on all my home machines [slashdot.org].
I don't know what to say
(And no, I'm not an LG sockpuppet).
I also certainly hope I didn't come off as an AUO sockpuppet ... apologies if I did/do. They do hold 16-17% of the LCD display market so I think they may be justified in this patent and counter patent suit action. It's not like they're a non-practicing entity patent troll.
Re:Eliminate Patents. (Score:2, Informative)
That need still exists today, and the principle behind it is still solid -- so solid in fact, that it's written into our Constitution as a specific right granted to the government. And you might recall, our founding fathers were quite stingy about giving the federal government much power at all even after the failure known as the Articles of Confederation. That speaks clearly to the need for patents and copyright.
Actually, not all the Founding Fathers were in fervent agreement about patents and copyright. In particular, Thomas Jefferson himself was very particular about giving any "dibs" on ideas. [uchicago.edu] He believed that ideas cannot be owned, and still stated that it is not the right of any man to own an idea as far as it is without himself. It's hard to tell precisely from his letter, but it seems like he was not greatly fond of the idea of patents in any form.
Just because something is written into the Constitution does not mean every one of the signers agreed wholly with it. The US Constitution is an imperfect document formed by many imperfect men of different beliefs and opinions.
AU Optronics = Chinese company??? (Score:5, Informative)
You're mistaken. AU Optronics is a Taiwanese company. And even if you're a stubborn, nationalistic Chinese citizen, you still have to cede that the Republic of China (Taiwan) adheres to international law significantly better than the People's Republic of China (China); Taiwan is at the very least as respectable in the technology field as South Korea, if not more so.