Siemens files legal action on arch rival

The battle between Siemens Nixdorf and LG Semicon was racked up a further notch last week when the German manufacturer sued its Korean rival for infringing on its DRam memory chip patents.

Reports said Siemens had sued LG Semicon over seven patents. The action was taken at a district court in Delaware and sought an injunction against LG Semicon to prevent it making and selling the DRams concerned.

In early August, Siemens accused the South Korean manufacturers of dumping products on the European market, forcing it to close its advanced DRam factory in the UK's Tyneside region.

At the time, recently appointed DTI minister Peter Mandelson backed up the complaint.

But last week, the head of the Korean semiconductor association hit back at Siemens, denying charges of dumping (PC Dealer, 2 September).

A representative for Siemens in Tyneside said she was unaware of the legal action and did not know whether similar moves would be made in Europe.