TOKYO/SEOUL, Dec 18 (Reuters) - Japan's Sharp Corp (6753.T) said it has won an LCD patent lawsuit against Samsung Electronics Co Ltd (005930.KS) in the Netherlands, the latest development in a string of suits and countersuits over display panel technology.
A district court in the Hague ruled that Samsung's LCD panels infringed Sharp's patent used to improve the response speeds of LCD panels, the Japanese electronics maker said on Friday.
LCD TVs with a higher response speed are suitable for showing fast-moving images such as sports programmes.
The court ordered Samsung's Dutch sales subsidiary to halt imports and sales of the South Korean firm's LCD panels and LCD TVs that use the technology in question, and to withdraw infringing products from store shelves, Sharp said.
Samsung, the world's largest LCD TV maker, said the decision was unlikely to make a dent to its operations.
"The latest ruling has no impact on Samsung's businesses and the company's ability to meet consumer demand in this market as we had prepared various countermeasures," a Samsung spokeswoman said.
Electronics companies, when slapped with a court order to stop imports and sales due to patent infringement, often launch new models that do not contain the technology in question to maintain their presence in the market.
The Samsung spokeswoman declined to comment whether it would appeal the ruling. Samsung has three months to appeal the district court decision, Sharp said.
Samsung and the fourth-ranked Sharp are in LCD patent-related lawsuits in such countries as the United States, Japan and Germany besides the Netherlands.
Patent suits, appeals and settlements are often a long prelude to a cross-licensing agreement.
Yoshio Kubota, deputy general manager of Sharp's intellectual property group, declined to comment if it is in talks with Samsung to form a cross-license pact, but said: "It is a common industry practice to keep dialogue open even when companies are in the middle of a lawsuit."
(Editing by Rodney Joyce)
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