Honeywell (NYSE: HON) announced today that it has reached agreement to grant rights to HannStar Display Corporation under patented Honeywell technology relating to certain liquid crystal display (LCD) products.
The patented technology increases the brightness of images and reduces the appearance of certain interference effects on LCDs. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
LCDs are widely used in products such as desktop PC monitors, notebook computers, mobile phones, personal digital assistants, portable DVD players, portable LCD TVs, video game systems, camcorders, digital still cameras, MP3 players, global positioning systems and a variety of other industrial and consumer products.
"Honeywell invests millions of dollars each year in research and development to advance our products," said Loria Yeadon, CEO of Honeywell Intellectual Properties Inc. "We are pleased that HannStar has joined a growing number of LCD manufacturers who have obtained rights under Honeywell's patented technology."
In October 2004, Honeywell filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware against 34 electronics companies alleging infringement of U.S. Patent 5,280,371. Additional defendants were added to suit in November 2005. The litigation is pending.
The HannStar agreement grants rights to HannStar under technology protected by the "'371 patent." Earlier this year, Honeywell licensed AU Optronics Corporation under the '371 patent and granted rights to Toshiba Corporation, Toshiba Matsushita Display, Sharp Corporation, Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd., Sanyo Epson Imaging Devices Corp., Chunghwa Picture Tubes, Ltd., LG.Philips LCD, NEC LCD Technologies, Ltd., Chi Mei Optoelectronics, Inc., and Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. in prior years.
Honeywell International is a $30 billion diversified technology and manufacturing leader, serving customers worldwide with aerospace products and services; control technologies for buildings, homes and industry; automotive products; turbochargers; and specialty materials. Based in Morris Township, NJ, Honeywell's shares are traded on the New York, London, Chicago and Pacific Stock Exchanges. It is one of the 30 stocks that make up the Dow Jones Industrial Average and is also a component of the Standard & Poor's 500 Index. Honeywell Intellectual Properties Inc. is a subsidiary of Honeywell International which globally manages the corporation's diverse intellectual property assets and leads the corporation's IP licensing business and strategy. For additional information, please visit http://www.honeywell.com.
Based in Phoenix, AZ, Honeywell Intellectual Properties Inc. (HIPI) globally manages Honeywell's intellectual property portfolio and licenses companies worldwide under patents, trademarks, proven technologies and other Honeywell intellectual property to help accelerate their business growth. Additional information is available on the internet at http://www.honeywell.com.
This release contains forward-looking statements as defined in Section 21E of
the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, including statements about future
business operations, financial performance and market conditions. Such
forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties inherent in
business forecasts as further described in our filings under the Securities
Exchange Act.