Samsung files injunction against LG for leaks, report says
Korean technology giant Samsung is reportedly seeking an injunction against LG for damages, weeks after former Samsung workers are charged with leaking pre-release technology to LG.
Samsung has filed an injunction against LG, its main rival in the television and display technology sector, over technology leaks, the Yonhap News Agency reports.
Samsung Mobile Display, an subsidiary affiliate of Samsung, submitted documents to the Seoul Central District Court against LG Display, about 18 "confidential technologies" for OLED screens and 21 other details, the news agency reports.
The court documents seek compensation of 1 billion won ($880,500) where each leak was passed on to a third party or where LG used the technologies, citing sources familiar with the matter.
Earlier this year, 11 current or former workers at Samsung Mobile were arrested and charged with allegedly stealing and leaking information relating to the firm's yet-to-be-released 55-inch AMOLED television to LG.
From ZDNet:
The prosecutors said the employees involved photographed circuit diagrams of to-be-released 55-inch AMOLED television panels when they were allowed into Samsung and LG's manufacturing plants to inspect for equipment defects from November 2011 to January 2012. They then stored these images on portable memory cards and hid them in their shoes, belts and wallets to avoid suspicion, they added.
A Samsung official told the news agency: "LG Display has consistently acquired our OLED technologies and other business secrets by inducing our researchers to transfer."
Samsung is said to have invested more than 1 trillion won ($879.9 million) in the past ten years in display technology, which allows the firm to claim "nearly 99 percent of the world's OLED market," the official added.
LG said earlier this year that it "do[es] not need Samsung's technology," claiming it "works under a totally different display system."
A spokesperson for Samsung in the U.K. said they were unable to comment at the time of writing. LG did not return calls when approached by ZDNet before publication.
This story was first published as "Samsung fires injunction at LG for leaks: report" on ZDNet's Between the Lines.