Plasma panel firms in patent war

The popularity of plasma display TVs is growing fast

A patent war has broken out between the world's two biggest makers of plasma display panels, used in flat screen TVs and colour mobile phones.

Japanese firm Fujitsu has sued Samsung in a US federal court, accusing the South Korean group of infringing its plasma display panel (PDP) patents.

Fujitsu's lawsuit follows one filed by Samsung in California in February.

Fujitsu wants the court to block Samsung from importing plasma display screens to the US.

"Fujitsu has invested over 30 years and very significant resources in developing commercially viable PDP technology," said Fujitsu executive Masanobu Katoh, who is president of Fujitsu's intellectual property group.

"We cannot permit others to exploit these valuable inventions without appropriate compensation."

Vital future market

Fujitsu produces a quarter of the world's plasma display screens through Fujitsu Hitachi Plasma Display Ltd, its 50% joint venture with Hitachi.

It is suing Samsung SDI, which is 20% owned by Samsung Electronics.

Samsung SDI makes one fifth of the world's PDPs.

A Samsung spokesman said there "had been some dispute whether Fujitsu claims are enforceable and we'll wait for the court's ruling".

IT analysts expect the popularity of TV sets with plasma display panels to make them one of the fastest growing markets for consumer electronics this year. Both companies are ratchetting up production.