If You Bought a Thin Film Transistor‐Liquid Crystal Display TFT‐LCD Panel or Product (which include TVs, Computer Monitors and Notebook Computers that contain TFT-LCD panels) Directly from a Manufacturer, a Class Action Lawsuit and Settlements May Affect You.
A class action settlement has been reached with Chimei Innolux Corporation, Chi Mei Corporation, Chi Mei Optoelectronics Corporation, CMO Japan Co., Ltd., Chi Mei Optoelectronics USA, Inc., Nexgen Mediatech, Inc. and Nexgen Mediatech USA, Inc. (“Chi Mei”); HannStar Display Corporation; Hitachi, Ltd., Hitachi Displays, Ltd. and Hitachi Electronic Devices (USA), Inc. (“Hitachi Displays, Ltd.”); LG Display Co. Ltd. and LG Display America, Inc. (“LG Display Co. Ltd.”); Mitsui & Co. (Taiwan), Ltd.; Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., Samsung Electronics America, Inc. and Samsung Semiconductor, Inc. (“Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.”); Sanyo Consumer Electronics Co., Ltd. and Sharp Corporation (together referred to as the “Settling Defendants”) in a class action lawsuit against various defendants pending in United States District Court for the Northern District of California (styled In re: TFT‐LCD (Flat Panel) Antitrust Litigation, Case No. 3:07‐md‐1827‐SI) alleging, among other things, that Defendants and Co‐Conspirators conspired to raise and fix the prices of TFT‐LCD panels (a TFT‐LCD is a display technology used in flat panel televisions as well as in computer monitors, notebook computers, mobile phones, personal digital assistants and other devices) and certain products containing those panels for over a decade, resulting in overcharges to purchasers of those panels and products in violation of U.S. antitrust laws by establishing a global cartel that set artificially high prices for, and restricted the supply of, various sizes of TFT‐LCD panels, according to the Thin Film Transistor‐Liquid Crystal Display TFT‐LCD Flat Panel class action lawsuit settlement notice.
If you or your company directly purchased TFT‐LCD panels or certain products containing those panels between 1999 and 2006 you may be a part of this class action settlement. A direct purchaser is a person or business who bought a TFT‐LCD panel, or a television, computer monitor or notebook computer containing a TFT‐LCD panel, directly from one or more of the Defendants, Co‐Conspirators, Affiliates or Subsidiaries themselves, as opposed to an intermediary (such as a retail store).
The Defendant companies, and the companies alleged by Plaintiffs to be subsidiaries and affiliates of the Defendant companies (the Defendants deny that all of the other companies herein are their subsidiaries and/or affiliates), are: Acer Display Technology, Inc., AU Optronics Corporation, AU Optronics Corporation America, Chi Mei Corporation, Chi Mei Optoelectronics Corporation, Chi Mei Optoelectronics USA, Inc. (formerly known as International Display Technology U.S.A., Inc.), Chunghwa Picture Tubes, Ltd., CMO Japan Co., Ltd. (formerly known as International Display Technology Ltd.), Epson Electronics America, Inc., Epson Imaging Devices Corporation, Fujitsu Limited, Hannspree Inc., HannStar Display Corporation, Hitachi Displays, Ltd., Hitachi Electronic Devices (USA), Inc., Hitachi, Ltd., International Business Machines Corporation, LG Display America, Inc., LG Display Co., Ltd., LG Electronics, Inc., LG Electronics USA, Inc., Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. (also known as Royal Philips Electronics), Mitsui & Co. (Taiwan), Ltd., Nexgen Mediatech, Inc., Nexgen Mediatech USA, Inc., Philips Consumer Electronics, Philips Electronics North America, Quanta Display Inc., S-LCD, Samsung Electronics America, Inc., Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., Samsung Semiconductor, Inc., Ltd., Sanyo Consumer Electronics Co., Ltd., Sharp Corporation, Sharp Electronics Corporation, Tatung Company of America, Inc., Toshiba America Electronic Components, Inc., Toshiba America Information Systems, Inc., Toshiba Corporation, Toshiba Matsushita Display Technology Co., Ltd. and Unipac Optoelectronics Corporation.
The Plaintiffs allege that the following companies are Co Conspirators: Hydis Technologies Co., Ltd., IPS Alpha Technology Ltd., Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, Mitsui & Co., Ltd., NEC LCD Technologies, Ltd., Panasonic Corporation (formerly known as Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.), Panasonic Corporation of North America (formerly known as Matsushita Electric Corporation of America), Sanyo Electric Company, Ltd., Sanyo North America Corporation and Seiko Epson Corporation.
The Settling Defendants will collectively pay the Litigation Classes $388,022,242 (the “Settlement Fund”). Chi Mei will pay $78,000,000; HannStar Display Corp. will pay $14,900,000; Hitachi Displays, Ltd. will pay $28,000,000; LG Display Co. Ltd. will pay $75,000,000; Mitsui & Co. (Taiwan), Ltd. will pay $950,000; Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. will pay $82,672,242; Sanyo Consumer Electronics Co., Ltd. will pay $3,500,000 and Sharp Corp. will pay $105,000,000. Each Settling Defendant also agrees to cooperate with the Plaintiffs in the on‐going case against the Non‐Settling Defendants.
The distribution of the Settlement Fund will be based on the value of the finished product and on the number of valid claims that are filed. The proposed plan of allocation divides the Settlement Fund in half, with 50% distributed to members of the Panel Class and 50% distributed to members of the Product Class. For each TFT‐LCD finished product (monitors, notebook computers and televisions), claimants will be paid based on the value of the panel in the finished product. The percentages of panel value in a finished product are 75% for monitors, 15% for notebook computers and 47% for televisions.Class Members will submit their purchase information for both panels and finished products. The panel purchase prices, based on prices paid, will be divided proportionally. For finished products, the claims administrator will apply the percentages set forth above, and then calculate Class Members’ distribution based on those percentages. No Class Member submitting a claim for a panel purchase will receive more than the purchase price. No Class Member submitting a claim for a television, computer monitor or notebook computer will receive more than the value of the panel in the finished product.
If you wish to receive a payment from the Settlement Fund, and/or from the money paid by the Defendants who previously settled with Direct Purchasers, go to www.tftlcdclassaction.com and complete a claim form. Claim forms are due by April 5, 2012.
For more information on the Thin Film Transistor‐Liquid Crystal Display TFT‐LCD Flat Panel class action lawsuit settlement, visit the TFT‐LCD Flat Panel Settlement website:
www.tftlcdclassaction.com
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