Sharp將在愚人節（誤）成立與Sony JV的子公司。

Sharp-Sony合資案，現在有更新的訊息了。
Sharp將在4/1成立新的子公司，Sharp Display Products Corp，Sony將加入。新公司的成立資本額為Yen 100 M，Sharp將持有66%股權，Sony持有其餘34%。

Sharp to Set Up LCD Unit

Osaka, March 24 (Jiji Press)--Sharp Corp. said Tuesday it will establish a subsidiary on April 1 to prepare for joint production of liquid crystal display panels with Sony Corp. .

Sony plans to join in the subsidiary, Sharp Display Products Corp., now capitalized at 100 million yen, at a later date.

Initially, Sharp and Sony planned to establish an LCD joint venture in April 2009. But they postponed it until March 2010 to cope with falling demand.

The two companies agreed in February last year to set up the joint venture by spinning off a plant that Sharp is building in Sakai, Osaka Prefecture, western Japan.

日韓面板專利訴訟世界經典大賽：Samsung 2:1 領先 Sharp

Sharp在2007年8月開啟戰火，在美國、韓國控告Samsung與子公司侵犯Sharp專利。Samsung之後展開全面反擊。詳過程與涉及的專利，請參閱STPI的報告：

Nikkei BP報導，2009/1/26 ITC認定Sharp侵犯Samsung兩個專利，並要求不得進口使用侵權技術生產的產品。Samsung 1:0領先Sharp：

an 26, 2009, the US International Trade Commission (ITC) supported Samsung's claim that Sharp infringed on two of Samsung's patents. The ITC issued a tentative ruling that orders Sharp to stop importing and selling its LCD-related components for LCD TVs, notebook PCs and mobile phones as well as such end products in the US. Six ITC members will start investigating the tentative ruling from now.

Sharp在2009/1/30東京的官司打贏Samsung。Samsung被認定侵犯Sharp的No. 3872798專利。Sharp追成1:1平手。

Sharp claimed that the LCD module included in the Samsung Electronics' 40-inch LCD TV and the 19- and 30-inch LCD monitors infringe on three of Sharp's patents (No. 3872798, 3901721 and 3744714) related to technologies to realize wide viewing angles, enhance response speeds, etc. The court ruled that Samsung infringed on patent No. 3872798.

2009年3月20日，Samsung宣稱在東京的專利訴訟獲勝。以下是WSJ Asia（2009/03/23）的報導：

Samsung Electronics Co. said it has won a liquid-crystal-display patent dispute against Sharp Corp. in Japan. A Tokyo court upheld a Samsung Electronics' countersuit filed last June that claimed that Sharp LCD TV-set products infringed on Samsung's patents, a Samsung spokeswoman said Friday. Sharp had sued Samsung in late 2007, alleging that the South Korean electronics maker infringed Sharp's patents. A Sharp spokeswoman declined to comment. Patent-infringement lawsuits are common in the highly competitive flat-panel display industry.

根據Nikkei BP的報導，Samsung要求Sharp的LC-32D10 LCD TV不得生產，且必需銷毀庫存品。Samsung再次超前，2:1領先Sharp。

Samsung filed this lawsuit in June 2008, claiming that Sharp infringed on Samsung's patents. The Tokyo District Court found Sharp's LCD TV module to have infringed on Samsung's Japanese patent 3,625,598 on "a LCD module manufacturing technology" and ordered Sharp to halt its production, marketing, import and export of its "LC-32D10" LCD TV, which uses the module in question, as well as to dispose of the inventory of the TV.

LC-32D10是Sharp 2008年的日本國內熱銷機種，佔總體LCD TV銷售比例的2.4%，在32吋級別的佔有率為7.3%：

附帶一個有趣的資料。我用Factiva資料庫，查詢該資料庫所收錄的所有LCD相關的專利訴訟新聞。我沒有排除重覆的新聞（來自不同的新聞機構），新聞報導篇數的變化趨勢如下圖：

2007年為最高峰，達137篇。2004年有96篇。請注意，篇數≠訴訟數，這些篇數代表媒體對於LCD產業專利訴訟的關注程度。我大概粗估一下，從2001～2008年，LCD產業專利訴訟每年平均有四件。

2007年的報導篇數這麼多，約有80%報導都是Samsung vs. Sharp的一連串訴訟案。2004年的主要訴訟案報導，約70%報導與Honeywell控告眾面板製造廠商侵權有關。

LCD產業多數的訴訟與Sharp、Samsung、LG有關：

若以LED專利訴訟案為搜尋對象，從1995年至2008年共有112篇，變化趨勢是：

2005年有28篇報導關於LED專利訴訟案，2004年則有23篇相關報導。
LED產業的訴訟絕大多數與Nichia有關：