Samsung hit with two infringement lawsuits
WASHINGTON, Nov 17 (Reuters) - Samsung Electronics (005930.KS) was hit with two separate sets of lawsuits as Eastman Kodak (EK.N) and Spansion SPSN.O both accused it of infringing on their patented technology.
Spansion accused Samsung of infringing its technology for flash memory, which allows a device to retain data even when its power is turned off.
Kodak accused Samsung and LG Electronics (066570.KS) of infringing its patents for digital cameras. The suits were filed with the International Trade Commission and in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York.
The ITC is a popular venue for patent infringement lawsuits since it can stop the importation of items made with infringed technology.
Samsung had no immediate comment on either lawsuit.
A draft copy of the Delaware suit obtained by Reuters listed Samsung and four U.S. subsidiaries as defendants.
"Spansion is seeking the exclusion from the U.S. market of well over one hundred million MP3 players, cell phones, digital cameras and other consumer electronic devices containing Samsung's infringing flash memory components," the company said in a statement.
The draft ITC document has a long list of proposed respondents, including Samsung and its U.S. subsidiaries as well as companies which use the infringing Samsung products, including Apple Inc (AAPL.O), Asus (S0283.MC), Kingston, Lenovo (0992.HK), PNY, Research in Motion (RIM.TO), Sony (6758.T) (SNE.N) and Sony Ericsson.
Spansion said it estimated that the infringing technology accounted for more than $30 billion in Samsung's global revenue since 2003, the company said in a statement.
Spansion filed one lawsuit against Samsung with the ITC and the second with the U.S. District Court in Delaware. (Reporting by Diane Bartz; Editing by Bernard Orr)
