U.S.-based non-practicing entities (NPEs) filed 128 lawsuits against South Korea-based firms in 2014, an intellectual property union said Wednesday, adding big-name tech players, such as Samsung Electronics Co. and LG Electronics Inc., were major targets.
Samsung faced 49 patent claims from U.S. NPEs last year, while LG was also slapped with 40 suits, the data compiled by anti-NPE cooperative UnifiedPatents showed. NPEs, also known as "patent trolls," refer to entities that generate profits from licensing or enforcing patents.