LG files for injunction against Samsung

LG Electronics said Monday it filed for an injunction against Samsung Electronics at a Seoul court involving its rival’s advertisement on the two companies’ high-capacity refrigerators.

LG said that Samsung should immediately stop airing its advertisements posted on YouTube because they contain unverifiable information that is ruining the reputation of its own refrigerators as well as its corporate image.

According to LG, Samsung posted a video ad on Aug. 22 that compares the capacity of the two firms’ refrigerators, but uses a method that has not been standardized.

Following the ad posting, LG requested that Samsung apologize and charge the person responsible for making the ad on Sept. 18, but Samsung chose to post a follow-up series of the first ad on Sept. 21, said LG officials.

“It’s a real pity that (Samsung) is misleading the consumers and harming the image of its competitor with a malicious video ad,” said Yun Kyeong-seog, head of LG’s Refrigerator Research and Development Laboratory.

“Let’s instead get the refrigerators examined using standardized methods authorized by the government in public.”

In response to such moves, Samsung said that the information in the ad was provided to consumers so that they could easily understand its features and that the two ads did not contain any false facts.

Samsung also said that it was written in subtitles that the experiment itself was conducted using the company’s own method.

By Cho Ji-hyun (sharon@heraldcorp.com)