BENTON HARBOR, Mich.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Aug. 6, 2003–Whirlpool Corporation (NYSE:WHR) today announced that it has filed a patent infringement suit against LG Electronics, Inc., and the South Korean company’s U.S. affiliate, LG Electronics USA, Inc.
The suit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan, maintains that several LG clothes washers recently introduced into the U.S. infringe two patents secured by Whirlpool in 1993 to protect innovative washing technology.
Whirlpool is asking the court to enjoin LG from infringing the company’s patents, to remove the infringing products from its U.S. product supply chain and to pay unspecified compensation for damages that already has occurred from the infringement.
“Whirlpool has invested heavily in developing innovative fabric care wash technology that delivers meaningful benefits to our customers,” said David L. Swift, Whirlpool’s executive vice president for North America. “As the North American leader in major home appliances, Whirlpool will tirelessly and aggressively work to protect our assets from competitors who choose to disregard U.S. patent law.”
The two Whirlpool patents protect wash and rinse cycles in newer clothes washers, which deliver sharply higher energy and water savings to customers. The unique wash step provides a series of recirculating sprays of concentrated wash liquid onto laundry loads, while the innovative rinse step performs a tumble motion as recirculating rinse sprays remove wash liquids.
Over the years, Whirlpool has been an industry leader in developing innovative laundry solutions that provide consumers with higher levels of energy and water efficiency combined with improved cleaning and fabric care. The company launched its Whirlpool(R) Resource Saver(R) wash system in 1998 in many top-loading washing machines, which were the first top loaders to earn the U.S. Department of Energy’s ENERGY STAR(R) designation for energy and water savings. Whirlpool continued to lead the way with further laundry efficiency advances in the top-loading Whirlpool(R) Calypso(R) wash motion clothes washer and the front-loading Whirlpool(R) Duet(R) washer and dryer pair.
Whirlpool’s legal action follows a separate suit filed by the company against LG in June 2003 in the same U.S. Federal Court. In the previous suit, Whirlpool alleges that the Korean manufacturer used the Whirlpool registered trademark “Whisper Quiet” on some of its clothes washers and dryers. The “Whisper Quiet” trademark appears on the console of Whirlpool’s KitchenAid brand clothes washers, dryers and dishwashers.
Whirlpool Corporation is the world’s leading manufacturer and marketer of major home appliances, with annual sales of over $11 billion, 68,000 employees, and nearly 50 manufacturing and technology research centers around the globe. The company markets Whirlpool, KitchenAid, Brastemp, Bauknecht, Consul and other major brand names to consumers in more than 170 countries. Additional information about the company can be found on the Internet at www.whirlpoolcorp.com.
