Issue #23 : Howdy Mates!
Happy Monday!
Things are still heated in the APAC disputes space so let's get straight to it, shall we?
Here are the 🌶 headlines:
Myanmar: Myanmar's Supreme Court to hear appeals from its former leader Aung San Suu Kyi
South Korea: Korea National Oil Corp takes dispute with Nigeria over Blocks 321 and 323 to ICSID
Ling Yah
P/S: Know of any interesting seminars happening? Drop us a note at editor@overheard.asia!
The Texan Fight
Howdy mates!
Let’s talk about the tech war between:
Samsung Display: The display production unit of Samsung Electronics based in South Korea; and
BOE Technology Group: A Chinese electronic component and display manufacturer in the US,
which are battling each other for global domination in the OLED display market. The same displays you can find on your Apple iPhones, Apple Watches and Samsung Galaxies.
🍿What Happened?
Samsung Display isn’t shy to pull the trigger.
Last December, Samsung Display filed a complaint with the US International Trade Commission against 17 smartphone display suppliers in the US. They had allegedly been supplying phone repair shops with unlawful replacement OLED screens for Samsung’s Galaxy phones & Apple’s iPhones.
Later in May, BOE filed 6 lawsuits against Samsung Electronics & Samsung Display’s Chinese branch with a Chinese court.
Now, Samsung Display has filed its first legal action against BOE with the US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, which is known for its quicker hearings & decisions on cases, over the alleged infringement of 5 OLED patents owned by Samsung Display.
🤔Why Now?
Samsung Display previously supplied over 80% of OLED panels for iPhone 14.
At stake are lucrative supply deals for the upcoming iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus, which explains why South Korea isn’t shy in wielding their legal sword!
A Pricey Show of Favouritism
In another case involving Samsung, an UNCITRAL tribunal has just ordered South Korea to pay New York hedge fund Elliott Associates a total of ~USD 110 million.
This consists of:
USD 53.6 million in damages;
5% annual interest on that sum from 2015; and
USD 25+ million in legal fees.
😱 But Why?!
In 2015, the South Korean government had intervened in and approved the USD 8 billion merger between Samsung affiliate Cheil Industries and Samsung C&T. Elliott held a 7% stake in the latter.
The National Pension Service, which had stakes in both Samsung affiliates and a critical swing vote on the merger, helped Samsung avoid a narrow defeat. It was a blatant show of favouritism towards the Lee family, whose executive chairman Jay Lee was later imprisoned in 2017 following a corruption scandal involving the then South Korean president.
In 2018, Elliott filed a USD 770 million claim against the state under the US-Korea free trade agreement, which it has now won. Elliott argued that it would have earned substantial profits through its Samsung C&T shares if the Korean government had not interfered.
🍿Hang on…
But it’s not over!
Because the Samsung merger is the subject of another treaty claim brought by Mason Management, a US hedge fund, on similar grounds of bribery and favouritism to the Lee family.
Good luck, South Korea. 😅
Remove That Post!
Everyone is going gaga over Meta’s Threads but the Malaysian government might beg otherwise.
🍿 What Happened?
Last month, the Malaysian government announced that it would sue Meta Platforms for failing to remove “undesirable” posts after Meta had rejected the former’s numerous requests to do so.
It’s likely that the action will come under the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 (“MCMA 1998”), which considers permitting the abuse of network facilities or application services to be an offence.
Company officials can also be charged for “wilfully providing means and aiding criminal activity” if prompt action isn’t taken.
👀 Hot Soup
That said, it isn’t Meta’s first time in hot soup. And Meta has removed content before.
Back in 2019, Facebook removed hundreds of local accounts, pages and groups linked to a fake news syndicate in Indonesia, Nigeria, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates.
In 2020, Meta removed hundreds of posts and videos after the Vietnamese government threatened to shut down Facebook in the country.
Perhaps hardcore pressure is the only way for Meta to listen?
Spotlight: Joe-Han Ho (Barrister, 39 Essex Chambers)
⚒️ What do you do?
I am a barrister practising out of 39 Essex Chambers, London. While I am based in the UK, my practice has a strong international flavour and I travel regularly especially back to Asia.
I am currently working on two matters which come on for trial later this year. The first is a $40m arbitration where I represent a Barbadian insurer. This started life as a vanilla insurance dispute but then morphed into a serious fraud matter.
The second is a $2b banking dispute where I represent a consortium of Indian banks. The stakes are rather higher here, but it is actually a more vanilla dispute!
🏆 What is your proudest achievement?
When I was a schoolboy, I was participated in a national Tamil poetry recitation competition!
We had to recite three couplets from the Tirukkuṟaḷ, explain their meaning in English, and discuss how those lessons applied to life. This was not straightforward for me, not least because I did not speak Tamil and I did not (then) relish public speaking.
However, one of my teachers who spoke Tamil made a tape recording of the couplets for me, and also gave me valuable guidance on the content of my speech. I practised intensively, and eventually took 2nd place!
⌛ There are now 25 hours in a day! How do you spend your extra hour?
I am a skilled practitioner of Tsundoku, the Japanese art of buying books and never reading them. So, I would use this extra hour to read the books I have acquired but never found the time to read.
🚀 If you weren't a lawyer, what would you do?
I would open a supper club.
I have a passion for cooking and entertaining and eating, so this is probably a natural progression. I had a barbecue yesterday which featured banchan, seared tongue, and grilled boozy pineapple, with ice-cold bandung and Malaysian coffee on tap. That can be Menu No.1.
😋 Your favourite food haunt
The morning market at SS2, Petaling Jaya, Malaysia.
The coffee shack there has the most fragrant coffee, and allows food bought elsewhere to be eaten at the table, which allows one to buy the delicious ‘siu yoke’ and nasi lemak at the same market. Bliss…
*Note: This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Food Feature
Since Joe-Han mentioned the SS2 market, well, we thought to showcase another popular dish from the market.
The famous Ipoh style Chee Cheong Fun stall!
It's been in operation since 1964. Its flat noodles comes direct from Ipoh & the sauce recipes have been passed down through multiple generations.
Some consider it to be the best Chee Cheong Fun in town.
You'll just have to try drop by to decide for yourself!
Details: Google Maps, Facebook, Instagram
Are you a student or young lawyer?
Want to get involved in helping to run Overheard? Meet senior practitioners? Do legal research with real world impact?
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Special thanks to Overheard in Asia's sponsor:
David Grief was described as "the Law's Middleman" (Business Times, 2021). You can reach out to him at dg@davidgrief.com if you need help identifying the right lawyer, arbitrator or expert for your matters, or even if you just want to grab a drink 🍵🍺 with someone who has managed and mentored lawyers for almost 5️⃣0️⃣ years!