Samsung fends off $30m LCD patent claim

2015/03/11

Samsung has successfully fended off a $30 million patent lawsuit after a Texas court dismissed an inventor’s claim that the company infringed a patent covering liquid crystal display (LCD) technology.


In the lawsuit, filed by Masakazu Ushijima at the US District Court for the Western District of Texas, Austin Division in 2012, Samsung was accused of infringing US patent 5,495,405, which Ushijima owns.


The patent, called “Inverter circuit for use with discharge tube”, was issued to Ushijima in 1996 and covers technology used in the back lights of computer and television screens.


According to the Oxford English Dictionary, LCD is a form of visual display used in electronic devices, in which a layer of a liquid crystal is sandwiched between two transparent electrodes.


Ushijima claimed Samsung’s E1920 Monitor, as well as other television and computer monitors manufactured by Samsung, infringed claims “including but not limited to” claim four in the ‘405 patent.


He requested $30 million in damages, but this claim was rejected by the court on Tuesday (March 3) after a jury ruled in favour of Samsung.


Michael Barta, partner at law firm Baker Botts, which represented Samsung in the case, said the firm was “pleased to secure vindication” for Samsung.


“Our client had maintained, and we were able to demonstrate to the jury, that Samsung’s technology was fundamentally different from the technology claimed in Ushijima’s patent,” he added.


A spokesperson for Samsung told WIPR that it "welcomes" the jury's decision.


Ushijima could not be reached for comment.


(Source: WIPR)