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From legal spat to partnership

August 17, 2012

South Korean electronics giant Samsung and Germany's lighting firm Osram have agreed to settle all their global lawsuits over patent issues. The two companies are to convert their court cases into fruitful cooperation.

https://p.dw.com/p/15rdF
LED lamps are seen against LED display
Image: AP

South Korea's Samsung and lighting firm Osram of Germany on Friday announced that they had reached a deal to dismiss all their global patent lawsuits as quickly as possible.

The two companies said a settlement was to be finalized by the end of this month, with Germany's DPA news agency reporting that Samsung would pay "a considerable sum" to Osram in an out-of-court agreement.

Last year, Osram - which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of electronics giant Siemens - filed a complaint against Samsung and LG, saying the two South Korean firms had been violating patents on light-emitting diode (LED) technology, commonly used in television sets and computer display screens.

Making the best of it

As part of the deal reached between Samsung and Osram, the two firms signed a memorandum of understanding on the joint development of future LED-based products.

"We are glad to enter with Samsung in a new area of partnership-based competition," Osram's Chief Executive Wolfgang Dehen said in a statement.

The deal with Osram means some relief for the South Korean consumer electronics giant which is still embroiled in a legal battle with Apple over patents for its smartphones and tablet PCs.

hg/msh (dpa, AFP)