Oonagh ReidyThe tit for tat battle of the brands that kicked off last year is on again.
Electronics giant LG has just come out to block rivals Sony’s Blu-ray players, which includes its PlayStation 3 consoles and the Bravia HDTV sets, accusing the Japanese makers of stealing their patented technology.
This retaliation from LG comes hot on the heels of an almost identical Sony accusation made in December 28 last regarding LG’s Blu-ray players in the District Court of California.
Now LG has come back and complained to the International Trade Commission in the US that its patent rights number 2785, 2786 and several others were infringed by the Japanese giant, according to a Bloomberg report.
The Seoul based maker has also filed a case before a federal court in the state of California and is suing for cash compensation of an unspecified sum.
Sony flung similar patent theft accusations to their Seoul rivals late last year, accusing them of stealing seven patent numbers 337-758, which they say LG used on Smartphones models Lotus Elite, Neon, Remarq, Rumor 2.
The case was subsequently investigated by the ITC, who has the power to blcok imports and sales of goods in the US market.
The American market accounts for 20 percent of both LG and Sony global sales and could significantly hurt either if the ITC implement a sales barring order.