LG seeks sales ban on German cars in South Korea

LG Electronics Inc said Wednesday that it is seeking a sales ban on German cars in South Korea to step up its patent battle against Osram, a light-emitting diode (LED) making unit of Germany-based Siemens AG. The move, which is the latest action in the patent battle between the German LED maker and South Korean electronics giant, expands a legal row into the auto industry, reports Yonhap News Agency. LG Electronics and LG Innotek Co jointly filed a complaint with the Seoul Central District Court on Tuesday, asking a sales injunction against the Korean units of Audi AG and Bayerische Motoren Werke AG (BMW), LG Electronics said in a statement. Audi and BMW used Osram's LED packages for auto headlights, which violated seven LED patents of the two LG affiliates, the statement said. "Patent-infringing LED products from Osram are negatively impacting the domestic LED industry," LG Electronics said in a statement. "Considering the significance of the matter, we expanded lawsuits to the auto companies that are using Osram's LED packages." The two companies do not plan to request auto sales injunctions in other countries outside South Korea, LG Electronics' spokeswoman said. In June, Osram sued LG and Samsung Electronics Co. in Germany and in the United States, accusing the Korean firms of infringing its LED patents. LG and Samsung countersued in the two countries and in South Korea. LG lodged an additional lawsuit in China. LG Electronics and Innotek, an electronics parts making unit of LG, own 4,000 patents in LED areas around the world, they said.