SKC Wins Patent Dispute Against Toray 7 Mar 2010 The Korea Economic Daily SK’s subsidiary firm SKC won their patent dispute with Toray regarding a reflective film that has continued for the last two years. SKC plans on turning this victory into an increased share in the global market for the reflective film. The reflective film is a kind of a polyester film, which is one of main components of an LCD TV. This market had been ruled by Toray and Teijin Dupont, both Japanese manufacturers. On 25 February, the Supreme Court of Korea dismissed the suit filed by Toray against SKC alleging infringement of their patent on the reflective film. In March 2008, SKC has filed and won their suit against Toray’s Korean patent. An SKC spokesperson explained that they have broken the tradition of pacifying the situation by paying royalties to a Japanese firm, which makes their victory even more significant. SKC was Korea’s first and the World’s third to develop reflective films. Reflective films are attached on back panels of the LCD TV lamps, thereby reflecting light forward to enhance the optical efficiency. The market size for reflective films was 25,000t last year. SKC has been producing 2,400t, which is approximately 10% of the market, and the other 90% had been produced by Teijin Dupont and Toray. SKC was able to form a platform for increasing their market share by winning this patent dispute. An SKC spokesperson explained that the reflective film market is expected to have an annual increase of more than 10% due to the rise in demand for LCD TVs. He further explained that they have demonstrated their technological competency through this patent dispute, which is expected to lead to their rise in the market. SKC is a polyester film manufacturer that owns a total of 16 manufacturing lines in South Korea and the United States, and is known as one of the World’s four largest film makers. They mainly produce films for display panels, as well as films for solar cells and other products.