Samsung Loses OLED Patent Dispute, Fined $191.4 Million

Samsung has been in a legal battle with Pictiva over OLED display technology. A jury in Texas recently found that the Korean company infringed two US patents related to this cutting-edge technology. The federal court ordered Samsung to pay $191.4 million in damages to Pictiva. However, Samsung is not happy with the verdict and has announced plans to appeal the decision.

Jury rules against Samsung in OLED patent case

In 2023, Pictiva sued Samsung for allegedly using patented OLED technologies related to improving the resolution, brightness, and power efficiency. The lawsuit claimed that the Korean firm integrated these technologies into Galaxy smartphones, televisions, wearables, and more. However, Samsung refuted those allegations, saying that these were invalid patents. The jury recently found that Samsung infringed on two out of five patents.

For the uninitiated, Pictiva is an Ireland-based company that owns hundreds of OLED-related patents. It is a subsidiary of Key Patent Innovations, a world-class IP monetization company. Pictiva’s patents were originally developed by photonics company OSRAM in the early 2000s.

The company’s Managing Director, Angela Quinlan, said the court decision “validates the strength of the Pictiva intellectual property.” Meanwhile, Samsung has confirmed that it will appeal the decision. In a statement, the Korean firm said (via Reuters), “We intend to appeal the verdict related to the two patents. We have already filed a petition to invalidate the relevant patents, which is currently under review by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.”

For now, it is a major victory for Pictiva, though the legal battle is far from over. In the coming months, we will learn how the case turns out as Samsung proceeds with its appeal. Last month, a federal jury in Marshall said Samsung owes Collision Communications nearly $445.5 million. The jury found that a bunch of devices infringed four patents related to 4G, 5G, and Wi-Fi communication standards.