The Sony-LG dispute started when Sony file patent infringement lawsuits against LG over smartphone patents in which the latter claimed that Sony violated patent rights over TVs, PCs and cameras.  But the dispute has finally been resolved, as the two companies agreed on cross-licensing, wherein they both grant rights for their patents.  Both Sony and LG have also requested for the dismissal of pending lawsuits in federal court, but no other details about the agreement were divulged to the public.

“LG and Sony recently agreed to drop patent infringement lawsuits against each other,” a spokeswoman at South Korea’s LG Electronics said. Sony confirmed this, but declined to comment further.

As we look back, Sony was more affected by the lawsuits, especially when sale of their PlayStation 3 console was banned in Europe for a few weeks as evidenced by their shares declining by 2.7%, hitting a 2 ½ year low while LG’s shares are up by 1.3%.

So that’s one less lawsuit for both of them, but LG may be up against Apple soon.  LG is suing Apple over U.S. Patent No. RE40,092 on a “method for quickly booting a computer system,” a patent that stems from another patent, and the original invention was made by an LG employee and assigned to LG. The assignment record for U.S. Patent No. 6,434,696 partly overlaps with the one for the reissued patent.

Meanwhile, Sony avoids patent lawsuits by teaming up with Samsung and other companies in an act initiated by Panasonic to make universal 3D glasses, in which the said companies have added their proprietary technology to the agreement, this will allow manufacturers to develop universal 3D glasses that are still backward-compatible.