Sharp Corp. has filed for a court injunction to halt sales of liquid crystal display televisions produced by Taiwan's Teco Electric and Machinery Co. group, claiming the firm is infringing on its patents, Sharp officials said Thursday.
Sharp has asked the Tokyo customs office to suspend imports of the LCD TVs, in addition to the injunction request filed at the Tokyo District Court, they said.
Sharp said the Teco group is violating patents relating to a technology to fix problems with pixels in LCD panels, at a time when inroads made by low-price foreign-made LCD TVs have intensified competition in the Japanese market.
The Teco group is selling its LCD TVs in Japan for less than half the price of products marketed by many Japanese manufacturers.
Sharp might take similar action against a separate Taiwanese company that supplies LCD panels to the Teco group.
The latest move follows a patent lawsuit filed two months ago by another Japanese high-tech company, Fujitsu Ltd., against Samsung SDI Co. of South Korea over plasma display panel technologies.
The companies said earlier this week that they have agreed to settle the dispute out of court.