A Korean Patent Startup Files Lawsuit against Apple, Samsung Electronics

A Korean patent venture company filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Apple and Samsung Electronics in the US. The patent infringement lawsuit targets an invention that simultaneously recognizes fingerprints while turning on smartphone screens.

Patent venture start-up First Face said on April 10 that the company filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Apple and Samsung Electronics at the US District Court for the Northern District of California in San Jose, a stronghold of Apple, California of the US.

It is extremely unusual for a Korean venture company to file a global lawsuit against the world's first- and second-ranked smartphone makers in the US.

First Face’s position is that 'Touch ID' technology, which Apple has been using since the iPhone 5S and the iPad Pro, has infringed many of its US patents. First Face has three US patents on this technology. In addition, First Face has original patents on unlocking technology based on face recognition and iris recognition as well as fingerprint-based user identification in Korea, US, China, Europe, and Japan.

Touch ID technology starts fingerprint-based identification at the same time when a user presses the terminal button and turns on the screen. It is a representative user environment (UI/UX) technology that Apple boasts for user convenience and security at the same time. First Face also said that Samsung Electronics, too, used First Face’s US patents in the Galaxy S6 and Galaxy Pad S2 models without its permission.

As all of Apple’s and Samsung’s smartphones and pads with Touch ID technology are subject to the patent infringement, litigation cost may skyrocket.