Samsung Electronics is again embroiled in a patent dispute related to the 'slide to unlock' technology that has been plagued for over 10 years. Recently, Samsung Electronics was sued by the Swedish company ‘Neonode’ for its slide to unlock technology. Will Samsung Electronics be able to win this patent dispute?
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A longer-than-expected,
This patent dispute is not as light or short as
you might think. It's already become a boring fight that has been going on for
over 10 years. The dispute started in 2012 in a patent dispute between Apple
and Samsung.
Apple filed a patent lawsuit in the US and Europe, claiming that Android phone manufacturers, including Samsung, infringed on its patent, ‘Slide to unlock'. In response, Samsung has already claimed that it is a prior technology installed in a cell phone released by Sweden's Neonode even before Apple applied for a patent.
At the time, the United States and Germany each made different rulings. A US court ruled that Samsung should pay Apple about 100 billion in damages, but a German court revoked the patent right in Europe, saying that Apple's patent was invalid. Samsung Electronics' made it invalidated Apple's patent in Europe.
However, the dispute started again in 2020 when Neonode filed another lawsuit against Samsung. This time, a U.S. court ruled in part in favor of Neonode's patent.
Then, what are the technologies that Neonodes are continuously raising? Neonode's technology is a touch interface technology that unlocks the screen by touching the button on the screen of the smartphone. Considering that the application was filed in 2002, before touch phones were commercialized, it was a fairly advanced technology at the time. Rather, it seems possible for Neonode to file a suit because it is a pioneering technology in the smartphone market.
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| wipsglobal.com US 8095879 B2, 'User interface for mobile handheld computer unit' |
What's the problem this time?
After 2020, the legal battle between Samsung
and Neonode seemed to be over. However, this time, Neonode expanded the scope
of damage, claiming that it infringed on most of the features using finger
screen touches, including not only the existing slide-to-unlock, but also
touch-to-receive calls and swipe-to-typing.
wipsglobal.com> US Litigation search
Currently, Neonode is demanding compensation
three times higher than before from Samsung. Experts estimate that the amount of
compensation is about $350 million or more, given that Samsung paid Apple
$119.6 million in damages in a US judgment in 2017.
Meanwhile, Samsung has yet to make a statement.
Recently, the Galaxy S23 series is bringing back the smartphone market by its
huge success but now faced another patent fight. I think we’re going to have to
watch how Samsung will cope with the patent dispute.
