Whirlpool Corporation today announced that it has filed a second patent infringement suit against LG Electronics, Inc., and the South Korean company's U.S. affiliate, LG Electronics USA, Inc., for infringing clothes washer patents.

The latest suit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan, maintains that a line of LG clothes washers sold in the U.S. infringes two patents secured by Whirlpool in 1988 and 2001 to protect innovative washing technology. Similarly, the first suit, filed in August, contends that several lines of LG clothes washers infringe another two patents secured by Whirlpool in 1993.

In both cases, 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 have occurred from the infringements.

"The people of Whirlpool Corporation work tirelessly to deliver innovative solutions to our customers to enhance their lives and to deliver unique benefits that set our company apart from competitors," said Michael D. Thieneman, Whirlpool's Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer. "In violating these patents, LG has shown a blatant disregard for our assets and for U.S. law."

The latest suit involves a patented method of rolling the clothes in a washer to deliver a better cleaning performance and improved energy and water savings. (See actual patent) The suit also involves a patented method of passing detergent through fabric to provide better cleaning action without the use of an agitator.

The earlier suit involves patents that protect wash and rinse cycles in high-efficiency clothes washers, which deliver sharply higher energy and water savings to customers. The unique wash step provides a series of re-circulating sprays of concentrated wash liquid onto laundry loads, while the innovative rinse step performs a tumble motion as re-circulating rinse sprays remove wash liquids.

Whirlpool's two legal actions follow yet another suit filed by the company against LG in June 2003 in the same U.S. Federal Court. In that 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.