InterDigital Wants Arbitration Award Against LG Confirmed
By Y. Peter Kang
Law360, Los Angeles (February 5, 2016, 9:00 PM ET) -- Wireless communications technology developer InterDigital Inc. asked a New York federal judge Friday to confirm an award issued by an international arbitration tribunal in December against South Korean electronics giant LG Electronics Inc. in a patent licensing dispute.
The Pennsylvania-based company told the court that the American Arbitration Association's International Centre for Dispute Resolution had ruled against LG on Dec. 29 and awarded a final, binding arbitration award to InterDigital following a series of hearings that took place in July and October. The award amount was not discussed in court papers.
“The arbitral tribunal considered opening statements, written witness submissions, accompanying exhibits, live fact and expert testimony, hundreds of pages of briefing, and post-hearing arguments,” InterDigital’s seven-page petition states. “The parties were afforded due process and given every opportunity to fully present their cases.”
The dispute stems from a 2006 patent licensing agreement forged between the companies, in which LG agreed to pay InterDigital $258 million for the rights to unspecified wireless patents, according to court documents.
InterDigital said that under the Federal Arbitration Act, the district court should confirm the award as it has complied with the terms of the New York Convention.
“The sole grounds for refusal or deferral of recognition or enforcement of an award … include failure of the party against whom the award is invoked to receive notice of the arbitration proceedings and other fundamental defects in the process itself,” the petition states. “None of those grounds is present in this case.”
The company said LG cannot meet its “heavy burden” in establishing that the award should not be confirmed.
Representatives for the parties did not immediately respond to requests for comment Friday.
On Tuesday, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board shot down LG’s bid to get a second crack under the America Invents Act at invalidating a claim that is part of a multimedia system display patent owned by a subsidiary of chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices Inc.
InterDigital is represented by Lucy Yen, David S. Steuer, Michael B. Levin and Matthew R. Reed of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati PC.
Counsel information for LG was not immediately available.
The case is InterDigital Communications Inc. et al. v. LG Electronics Inc., case number 1:16-cv-00910, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
--Additional reporting by Kevin Penton. Editing by Aaron Pelc.
