LG forms US-based subsidiary to guard patents

LG has become the second South Korean technology group to set up a US-based subsidiary to assist with patent protection, it has been reported.

LG Display, an affiliate of the LG Group, is said to have set up Unified Innovative Technology (UIT) in Delaware, which it hopes will prevent the “ever increasing threat” from non-practising entities and other possible violations of its IP.

UIT is said to be focused on liquid-crystal display (LCD) panels and organic light-emitting diodes (OLED) specifically.

It was opened with a $4 million investment.

The company did not respond immediately to requests for comment when contacted by WIPR.

However, according to technology news website ZDNet, an LG Display official said it had formed UIT to “strengthen efficiency” in global patent-related work.

Although patent litigation has been rarer in display panels than in other products, the move is a precaution against the possibility, the company official said.

“The role of UIT is to prevent the ever-increasing threat of patent trolls and other possible patent violations,” the official added.

Last year Samsung, LG’s South Korean rival, became the first company from there to set up a US subsidiary to manage patents.

That group, called Intellectual Keystone Technology and based in Washington, DC, was established by Samsung Display Corporation to handle patent development and trading.

Samsung paid $25 million to set up the subsidiary.