Suspected of Using Trade Secrets Obtained at Samsung
Synergy IP filed a damage suit against Samsung Electronics and Samsung Electronics America in Texas in November last year. According to the non-practicing entity, the two companies infringed upon 10 patents. The NPE was established in June 2020 by Ahn Seung-ho, who was a Samsung Electronics vice president and headed its IP center for 10 years.
The plaintiffs also include Staton Techiya LLC, which has the patent rights in question. According to the Delaware-based firm, the rights in question relate to always-on headwear recording, audio recording, microphone sound control, and so on that have been applied to various Samsung smartphones.
The former vice president is a U.S. patent attorney and led the patent part of Samsung Electronics from 2010 to 2019. “He may use trade secrets he obtained during his career at Samsung Electronics, although this is unethical,” said an industry source.
In the meantime, the Ministry of Science and ICT announced on Jan. 8 that the OECD and the European Commission released a list of 2,000 intellectual property right holders in November last year and Samsung Electronics is on top of the major R&D investor list for 2018.
Samsung Electronics’ patents account for 3.6 percent of the 2,000 companies’ patents. The runner-up is Canon (2.5 percent), followed by Huawei (1.7 percent), BOE (1.6 percent) and Bosch (1.5 percent). LG Electronics came in 18th with 1 percent, LG Chem 22nd with 0.9 percent, SK Hynix 32nd with 0.6 percent, and Hyundai Motor Company and Kia 46th and 49th with 0.4 percent each. The top 50 consist of six South Korean, 22 Japanese, three Chinese, one Taiwanese, 10 U.S., five German, one Swedish, and two Dutch companies.