Wednesday, June 22, 2005
Chi Mei Optoelectronics (CMO) and Hitachi have ended the lawsuit and signed a cross-licensing agreement that grants both parties use of each other’s patents for selected technologies until 2010.
CMO's president Ho Jau-yang said: "The patent sharing will create a win-win situation for the two companies as it will help speed up technological development and product improvement." The agreement will involve a total of 1,000 patents on a wide range of technologies used in making thin-film-transistor (TFT)-liquid-crystal-display (LCD) screens from small panels for mobile phones to slim-screen TVs. However, Hitachi’s advanced S-IPS (AS-IPS) technology is not included in the list.
CMO did not reveal the exact amount it will pay Hitachi. CMO currently supplies TV screens including 23-inch and 20-inch panels to the Japanese company, as well as clients Sony Corp and Toshiba Corp.
Meanwhile, Almost all major Taiwan-based panel makers, including AU Optronics (AUO), Chunghwa Picture Tubes (CPT) and HannStar Display, have signed patent license agreements with Hitachi. AUO said it signed a cross license agreement with Hitachi last November while HannStar also signed a five-year patent authorization agreement in 2002, which allows the panel maker to use Hitachi's IPS technology. AUO leads its local rivals in the number of registered patents it has, as well as the number of patents waiting for approval. The company said in addition to the more than 1,200 patents it has already secured, it still has 2,800 patent applications outstanding.
By: DocMemory
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