LG files suit against TCL over cell-phone related LTE patent

LG Electronics Inc. – a South Korean multinational electronics company has sued Chinese electronics maker TCL in Germany to protect its cell phone-related technologies. The suit has been filed at two German district courts of Mannheim and Düsseldorf.

LG Electronics claims that the Chinese company had infringed upon some of its featured phone and smartphone-related technologies, including long-term evolution (LTE) technology.

The case filed stated that TCL infringed on the patents of LG that involved four different technologies from LG. One is a patent for a technology used to packet data loss on 4G networks and the other is for a technology that reduces network interference and the last one is a technology that deals with a timer that helps synchronize the uplink of data transfer in 4G networks.

In a press release issued by LG, Jeon Saeng-gyu, Executive Vice President of LG’s Intellectual Property Center stated that, “LG has long invested heavily in LTE innovation and when it becomes necessary, we take action to protect these important assets.”

The press release also states that “The suits against TCL were filed only after numerous attempts were made by LG to remedy its concerns, to no avail. LG has successfully asserted its extensive LTE patent portfolio on a number of occasions in the courts by legally challenging the unlawful use of its technologies. Aggressive investment in research and development has resulted in LG becoming a global technological leader in the mobile communication market, possessing one of the largest portfolios of standard essential patents.”

The filing of the case to court came after LG tried making negotiations to settle and fix the situation outside of court. However, TCL refused to accept the offer of licensing negotiations and as a consequence, LG decided to take legal action against TCL.

LG Electronics had in the past filed complaints against American cellphone maker BLU Products in March 2017, and French smartphone maker Wiko in June last year as they had allegedly violated its patent rights in LTE technology.

In the first of November this year, LG Electronics filed a patent infringement suit against China's Hisense in the United States for breaching its TV patents.