LG Electronics Inc. said Sunday that it has filed a patent infringement suit against Chinese electronics maker TCL in Germany to protect its cell phone-related technologies.

LG Electronics said it filed complaints against the Chinese company with the district courts in Mannheim and Düsseldorf in Germany, claiming that TCL had infringed upon some of its phone related technologies, including 4G long-term evolution (LTE) technology. The three standard patents are essential to enabling LTE communications on any phone.

The lawsuit came as TCL refused to accept LG's offer of licensing negotiations, the Korean company said.

According to Germany-based researcher IPLytics, LG electronics owned 11 percent of patents in fifth-generation (5G) network technology as of July.

LG has been taking aggressive measures against violations of its patents by global companies as part of its efforts to protect intellectual properties.

The South Korean company also filed complaints against American cell phone maker BLU Products in March, 2017, and French smartphone maker Wiko in June last year after they allegedly violated its patent rights in LTE technology.

After the lawsuit, LG and BLU clinched a license contract.

LG also won the first trial against Wiko.

Last week, LG Electronics filed a patent infringement suit against China's Hisense in the United States to protect its TV technologies.