Samsung sues LG seeking to invalidate OLED patents

Something must not be right with the world. Samsung is taking a competitor to court, which in this day and age is right as rain. However, the defendant is not Apple and instead, is fellow countryman LG. What Samsung wants the court to do is to invalidate some of LG Display's patents related to Organic Light Emitting Diode (OLED) technology.

Cross-section of an OLED screen

Samsung filed with the local intellectual property tribunal, stating that seven of LG Display's patents had no innovationbehind them and should be invalidated. The move by Samsung against its fellow Korean tech giant had a lot to do with the September countersuit in which LG sued Samsung claiming that Sammy violated LG Display's seven OLED patents with the Samsung Galaxy S III, Samsung Galaxy S II HD, Samsung Galaxy Note, Samsung Galaxy S II and the Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7. LG filed the suit after Samsung accused LG of stealing some of Samsung's technology for its OLED patents.

Because they don't require backlights like LED panels do, OLED displays are thinner and have been used by Samsung on their handsets and tablets while LG has used the technology for its televisions. But what concerns Samsung, and is the reason why they are being so aggressive with these patents, is that an LG victory in the September suit could possibly keep OLED technology off future Samsung handsets.