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IP NEWS FLASH |
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Sharp Settles Employee Invention Suit Over LCD Technology, (Osaka,
Japan)
A
suit that demanded the Japanese consumer electronics maker pay $4.6
million to a former employer for a flat screen TV technology was settled
in the Osaka District Court on April 1, 2007. Neither was willing to
comment on the amount, but both expressed satisfaction with the
agreement.
The
suit was filed back in June of 2004 by a retired chief researcher of
Sharp’s liquid crystal display (LCD) department stating Sharp Corp. did
not pay a reasonable compensation for a key component in flat screen TV
technology which improved both the speed and energy consumption of the
LCD monitor. Due to Sharp’s 2002 revision of their in-house employee
compensation policy which for the first time included retirees among
those who qualified for remuneration adjustments, the man received an
extra $7700 for his part in developing the technology after his
retirement in 2001. The man was not satisfied with the amount and filed
suit.
He
claimed that the company’s total earnings on this invention from
domestic and foreign licensing are expected to be $96 billion yen and
stated his contribution to the invention was12% and was worth 11.5
billion yen although he was asking for a much smaller compensation
amount.
This
is the latest in a series of employee invention-related suits in Japan
following the high profile suit against Nichia Corp over the LED
invention among others. Weary companies are scrambling to revise their
in-house employee compensation policies to avoid future lawsuits such as
this one. |