Samsung Wins QLED TV Advertising Case Against TCL

Samsung is no stranger to legal battles in the TV market, with disputes over trademarks and display technology. The company recently won a legal battle in Germany against Chinese TV maker TCL. The court ruled that TCL misled consumers by advertising some of its TVs as QLED models.

German court orders TCL to stop advertising some TVs as QLED

In April 2025, Samsung filed a lawsuit against TCL’s German unit at the Munich I District Court over Fake QLED. The Korean firm accused the company of false advertising of some QLED TVs, even though the technology did not improve color reproduction.

The court recently found that TCL’s advertising violated Germany’s Unfair Competition Act for TV models, such as the QLED870 series. As a result, it ordered the company to stop advertising or selling the TVs as QLED models in Germany. According to the ruling, the quantum dot structure in the TCL models did not help improve color performance. The reason is that TCL used only a very small amount of quantum dots on a diffusion plate.

Unlike traditional LED TVs, QLED TVs use quantum dot technology to enhance brightness and color reproduction. According to the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), QLED displays put a quantum dot film between the blue-light backlight and the panel to improve color performance.

This is not the first time TCL has lost a legal battle against Samsung in Germany. Last year, the court also found that TCL’s NXT FRAME trademark infringed on Samsung’s The Frame TV brand. As a result, it ordered the company to stop using that moniker in Europe. The two companies are also involved in class-action lawsuits in the United States over TCL’s QLED advertising.

You can check out Samsung’s latest Neo QLED 8K and 4K TV lineup here. These TVs also use Vision AI technology to improve picture and sound quality.