Guangming Optoelectronics held a major news press conference today (18) evening, announcing that it had reached a settlement agreement with HP on the previous anti-Tolaris case, which brought to an end the lawsuit that had been entangled for many years at both ends, and HP will also complete In response to the lawsuit, Guangming Optoelectronics' previous crisis was also lifted. According to Li Zhiren, a spokesperson for Guangming Optoelectronics, based on the consideration of Taiwan and US laws and , the board of directors has reached a settlement with HP and Hewlett-Packard based on the consideration of the maximum equity of shareholders. After the settlement, the finances are still sufficient to support and can maintain normal operations. Under the confidentiality regulations, the two parties will not disclose the details of the settlement or make any comments. Under the
settlement agreement, all legal proceedings and enforcement of judgments between Guangming Optoelectronics and its subsidiaries and HP will be resolved, and both parties will withdraw all lawsuits.
This lawsuit originated in 2003, when the computer manufacturer Hewlett-Packard sued Sony (SONY), Toshiba (Toshiba), Hitachi (Hitachi), LG, Panasonic (Panasonic), NEC, Samsung ( Samsung), Guangming Optoelectronics and other optical disc drive manufacturers monopolize the market and consolidate price control. All other factories reached compensation agreements with HP in 2017. Only Guangming Optoelectronics entered the lawsuit. In October 2019, the court of first instance determined that Guangming Optoelectronics was required to pay 176 million U.S. dollars. In 2020, the compensation will be tripled from the original 176 million U.S. dollars to 528 million U.S. dollars, deducting the previous settlement of other defendants in this case with HP The compensation was 89 million US dollars, and there was also 439 million US dollars, which was far beyond the scope of Guangming Optoelectronics. In June 2020, the U.S. Federal Court also ruled that HP will be able to obtain and retain Guangming’s existing assets, including cash, factories, and patent rights, etc., to pay for the previous antitrust judgment of US$439 million in compensation. Mingguang is in a crisis of survival. Presumably, the U.S. Federal Court also ruled that Guangming had to compromise and speed up the settlement with HP.
