CJ Asset Management released its CJ Veritas Intellectual Rights Fund on Thursday. The subsidiary of CJ Corporation has invested W15 billion (US$1=W925) in the fund.

The fund has partnered with research institute "A," which is under the Ministry of Science and Technology, and will act as A's proxy in filing international suits against foreign companies that violate A's patent rights.

After winning cases, A will receive its royalties and the fund will take half of the royalties in commission. The research institute has handed over to the fund the rights to five wireless technology patents that it believes are being unfairly used overseas.

Lawsuits are expected to be filed against cell phone makers Motorola, Sanyo, Nokia, Sony Ericsson, and Siemens, and wireless service providers Verizon, Sprint, and Cingular. Chip makers Qualcomm and Freescale Semiconductor may also be sued.

An executive with CJ Asset Management said the fund will demand royalty payments from foreign companies that are infringing patent rights. If they don't pay up, a lawsuit will be filed in the U.S. and with the International Trade Commission.

The research institute has been reviewing ways to deal with IPR infringements by foreign companies since 2002, but has been unable to aggressively pursue the issue because of costs, the executive said. "With the release of this new fund, the fight for intellectual property rights will start in earnest," he said.

The fund will pay the costs of the lawsuits, which will be fought by Fish & Richardson, a U.S. law firm that specializes in patent rights. "Royalty profits for the next five years are expected to reach W300 billion," the executive said.

Companies that specialize in filing cases against patent violators in the hopes of profiting from the rewards are referred to as "patent trolls" overseas.

Inter Digital, a U.S. company, filed a lawsuit of more than US$300 million against Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics for allegedly violating patent rights.

CJ Asset Management will release a second patent fund in the first half of this year. It's also considering releasing a publicly-subscribed fund as well.

(englishnews@chosun.com )