An Unending Series of Patent Infringement Suits
Samsung Electronics is again embroiled in a global patent infringement lawsuit. The devices targeted by the suit include the Galaxy Note 20, a flagship phone that was released less than a month ago, and the Galaxy Buds Plus, a wireless earphone.
The company that sued Samsung Electronics this time is Garrity Power Service (GPS), which is known to be a non-practicing entity (NPE) or a "patent troll."
GPS took issue with the wireless battery sharing function of Samsung Galaxy smartphones. It claimed that the feature violated its wireless battery charging and discharging patent.
The wireless battery sharing function allows a customer to charge a smartphone or a wearable device by simply putting it on the back of another smartphone without a separate charging cable. This function started to be applied to the Galaxy S10 series released in 2019.
The products that GPS took issue with included the latest models such as the Galaxy Note 20, the Galaxy S20 and the Galaxy Z Flip Galaxy as well as the Galaxy Note 10 and the Galaxy S10.
A series of patent infringement lawsuits were filed against Samsung Electronics this year. In July, U.S.-based Gui Global Products sued the Korean tech giant, claiming that Samsung’s wireless earphone Galaxy Buds Plus violated its patent. In June, Mountech IP, which is also an NPE, filed a lawsuit against Samsung over the text entry system of the Galaxy Note 10. In addition, Neonode, a Swedish touch screen technology company, filed a patent suit, taking issue with the push unlocking function, while Pat Stats, a U.S. healthcare company, filed a complaint over Samsung's health application.