South Korea’s LG Electronics Inc. has filed a lawsuit against Wiko, arguing the Marseilles-based smartphone maker had deliberately infringed its patents in long-term evolution (LTE) network technology. It is the tech giant’s second patent infringement lawsuit on smartphone technology.

LG Electronics said Wednesday that it filed a damage suit against Wiko in District Court of Mannheim, Germany for infringing three of its patents in LTE technology. The company said it filed the suit to stop unlicensed use of its proprietary technology and enforce intellectual property rights.

The Korean company claimed that it has made a number of attempts to reach a license agreement with Wiko since it sent out its first warning notice in 2015, but the French firm did not respond.

Headquartered in Marseilles, France, Wiko is one of the top smartphone companies in Western Europe. It sold more than 10 million smartphones in the European market last year, according to data compiled by industry tracker Strategy Analytics.

Earlier in March last year, LG Electronics filed its first patent infringement lawsuit against BLU alleging the U.S. smartphone maker infringed its patents on LTE technology. Two parties settled the patent dispute late last year but terms of agreement were undisclosed.

LG Electronics is a global leader in LTE technology with the largest number of LTE standard essential patents registered in the U.S. between 2012 and 2016, according to TechIPM, an intellectual property and technology research and consulting company.

By Lee Jae-cheol and Cho Jeehyun

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