LG seeks ban on BMW, Audi sales in Korea because of lighting products

LG Electronics said on Wednesday morning that they filed a lawsuit with a South Korean court on Tuesday seeking to block some local branches of Germany’s BMW AG and Audi AG from selling vehicles equipped with lighting products made by Osram, which the Korean companies allege infringe their patents.

“We’ve expanded the legal fight to auto makers using LED package products manufactured by Osram, as the infringed products are having an increasingly negative impact on the fast-growing local LED industry,” LG Electronics said in a statement.

Osram is the world’s No.2 lighting company after Philips, ahead of General Electric Co.

The lawsuit is the latest in a series of patent litigation involving LG Electronics, Samsung LED and Osram. The Siemens lightbulb unit filed suits against the South Korean firms in the United States, Germany and Japan.

LEDs are becoming increasingly popular and are widely used in aviation, automobiles, televisions and mobile phone screens.

Osram, Audi and BMW weren’t immediately reachable for comment.
The two LG companies have 4,000 patent rights globally related to LED technology.

• [VIDEO] Audi R8’s 5th birthday celebrated into the U.S.
• The new Ford Mondeo is here
• Ssangyong Motor to Build $1.2bn Factory in India
• September: Audi worldwide sales up 17.1 percent
• Sales: Audi maintains double-digit growth worldwide in May
• S&P upgrades BMW’s rating to A/A-1
• Recall roundup: BMW 5-Series, 5-Series Gran Turismo, 7-Series, X5 and X6

• [VIDEO] Audi R8’s 5th birthday celebrated into the U.S.
• The new Ford Mondeo is here
• Ssangyong Motor to Build $1.2bn Factory in India
• September: Audi worldwide sales up 17.1 percent
• Sales: Audi maintains double-digit growth worldwide in May
• S&P upgrades BMW’s rating to A/A-1
• Recall roundup: BMW 5-Series, 5-Series Gran Turismo, 7-Series, X5 and X6