LG.Philips LCD, a leading innovator of thin-film transistor liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD) technology, announced that it has entered into a settlement agreement with Taiwan's Chunghwa Picture Tubes (CPT) to resolve their long standing disputes involving LG.Philips LCD's patented technology. The agreement, executed by LG.Philips LCD and CPT, calls for dismissal of two pending patent lawsuits between the companies and includes an agreement allowing the companies to use each other's patented technology. As part of the settlement, CPT will also pay an undisclosed amount in compensation to LG.Philips LCD.

In 2002 and 2005, LG.Philips LCD filed two separate lawsuits in the U.S. District Courts of the Central District of California and of the District of Delaware, respectively, alleging that CPT infringed LG.Philips LCD's patents on TFT-LCD technology. In July 2006, the jury in the Delaware case awarded LG.Philips LCD $52.4 million. Later, in November of the same year, the jury in the California lawsuit awarded LG.Philips LCD $53.5 million.

Separately, in December 2006, LG.Philips LCD announced that it would file additional patent lawsuits against two of its other competitors, AU Optronics and Chi Mei Optoelectronics. These suits are currently pending trial in the U.S. District Court in Delaware.

"We are happy to have resolved the lawsuits with CPT through this settlement agreement. At LG.Philips LCD, we are proud of the advanced LCD technology that we invented for use in our products, which greatly benefits our customers and ultimately end users," said Joo Sup Kim, Head of LG.Philips LCD Intellectual Property Center. "For this reason, we have invested heavily to protect our technology, which is recognized globally. LG.Philips LCD intends to continue enforcing and protecting its intellectual property assets worldwide."