According to Korean media reports on May 27, LG Display (LGD) has reached a settlement with Chinese display maker Tianma, officially ending their patent infringement lawsuit.
Tianma had accused LG Display of stealing core technologies related to automotive displays and OLED panels. Instead of dragging the case through a long court battle, both sides chose to settle privately.
On May 22 (local time), Judge Andrew Schwentker at the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas in Austin dismissed the case. Since it was dismissed "with prejudice," Tianma cannot refile the same lawsuit in the future. The specific terms of the settlement were not disclosed.
Tianma originally filed the lawsuit last December, claiming that LG Display infringed on four key patents for car displays and OLED technology. The patents include:
- A thin-film transistor (TFT) structure (US Patent No. 8,785,925)
- Touch display panel technology (10,234,971)
- Technology to improve OLED manufacturing stability (10,770,525)
- High-resolution OLED pixel arrangement (12,293,691)
These technologies are mainly used to make displays thinner, sharper, and more reliable.
Tianma took a strong stance in the lawsuit, even attaching transmission electron microscope (TEM) images and material analysis data as evidence. They specifically pointed to LG's UltraGear 27-inch gaming monitor as one of the infringing products and claimed that similar panels were also being used in popular cars like Tesla's Model Y.
However, the two companies reached a settlement before the case went to a full jury trial. Both sides agreed to cover their own legal fees, but it's unclear whether any settlement payment was made or if a patent licensing deal was included.
In recent years, Tianma has grown rapidly in the TFT and OLED sectors and has become one of the major display companies globally. Along with other Chinese firms like BOE, Visionox, and TCL, Tianma has been actively filing large-scale OLED patent lawsuits against LG Display and Samsung Display.
