LGs Scarlet Mired in Trademark Row
By Kim Yoo-chul
Staff Reporter
An American video camera maker is suing LG Electronics for trademark violation over the South Korean company's use of "Scarlet" in its line of LCD TVs, an LG spokesman and industry sources said Wednesday.
The lawsuit has been filed in a U.S. federal court and LG is considering filing a counter suit, LG said.
"We began going over claims by the video camera manufacturer RED," the spokesman told The Korea Times.
RED CEO Jim Jannard recently talked about his plan to sue LG, RED's representative in Seoul said.
"LG thought it could get away with it," the representative said, adding RED barred LG from using the word "scarlet," which RED has registered as a trademark.
RED's "Scarlet" is scheduled for release early next year.
One of the world’s thinnest LCD screens at 2.4-inches thick, LG's Scarlet breaks away from TV design convention and targets the affluent.
The screen is a hit in North America, winning an innovation award at the Consumer Electronics Show.
The flat-screen TV is an LG strategic item in North America this year. In May, LG raised its yearly marketing budget for the TV to $100 million, up nearly 40 percent from last year's $62 million.
The company has commissioned a TV commercial starring Norwegian model and actress Natassia Scarlet Malthe and hired David Nutter, producer of the hit U.S. TV series "The Sopranos."
LG aims to sell three million of the TVs in North America this year.
The Korean company is under pressure to aggressively market its products in the U.S. market to keep its market share from falling in North America.
In the second quarter, LG's share of the U.S. LCD market edged up 0.3 percent from 8.1 percent in the first quarter, according to a market research firm DisplaySearch.
Analysts say LG needs to go for the upscale segment to ward off Taiwanese and American competitors, who are raising market share by introducing cheaper TVs and strengthening ties with electronic manufacturing service providers in Taiwan.