South Korea bans some plasma TV panels
South Korea Monday temporarily banned imports of plasma display panels made by Japan's Matsushita Co., the Financial Times reported.
The action followed a complaint filed with the Korean Trade Commission by LG Electronics claiming Matsushita violated its intellectual property rights. The panels are used in flat-screen TVs and computer monitors.
The battle over technology between the two manufacturers started with Matsushita, which filed an injunction earlier this month to stop LG from selling its products in Japan.
LG retaliated in South Korea, filing similar charges against Matsushita and asking that its products be banned from South Korea.
The KTC agreed with LG and placed a temporary ban on the Japanese panels. It was unclear whether the temporary ban would be made permanent.
Matsushita also markets its products under the Panasonic brand name.
