South Korea's No. 2 tech giant LG Electronics Inc. said Friday it won a patent battle with U.S.-based non-practicing entities.

Technology Properties Limited had filed a petition against LG in July 2012, claiming the South Korean firm infringed its patent on application processors, which function as the "brain" of smartphones.

The U.S. International Trade Commission cleared LG Electronics of the accusations, making its preliminary conclusion in September last year official.

"LG has been asserting that TPL's patents are not reflected in our products," said Kim Joo-sup, a copyright official from the firm. "We are grateful that the ITC has proved LG's stance."

Market researcher Patent Freedom defines NPEs as entities that earn or seek to earn the majority of their revenue from licensing or enforcing patents and are commonly referred to as "patent trolls."

In February 2012, LG Electronics won a similar lawsuit against Multimedia Patent Trust, another U.S-based NPE.

Tech firms across the globe have come under aggressive attacks by the NPEs as patents are becoming core to competing in the smart gadgets industry.

South Korea's top firm, Samsung Electronics Co., faced 38 suits from NPEs in 2013, data by Patent Freedom released in January showed.

U.S. telecommunications firm AT&T Inc. topped the list with 51 patent rows with NPEs, trailed by Google Inc. and Apple Inc. with 42 cases each. There were 27 cases for LG Electronics in 2013. (Yonhap News)