LG to purchase patents for DVD devices and Blu-ray from Matsushita

April 8, 2005

LG and
Matsushita have settled a patent dispute regarding plasma displays panels out of
court. Both are the number two and three on this market and both companies were
afraid their patent dispute would only benefit the number one. Besides settling
this dispute both companies have cross licensed patents on DVD devices and will
start to cooperate in the Blu-ray Disc format.

The two major electronics makers had each filed suit
in Japan and South Korea on allegations that the other had infringed on
PDP-related patents.

According to the two companies, they will cross-license their patents
on not only PDPs, but also DVD devices and personal computers. In
addition, they have agreed to set up a committee to work toward
establishing cooperation in areas including Blu-ray Disc and SD memory
card technology.