A lawsuit filed against Samsung seeks damages and a permanent injunction against Galaxy foldables in the US, but whether or not that will actually happen remains to be seen.
Lepton Computing LLC has filed a lawsuit in US District Court (Eastern District of Texas) against Samsung, as reported by The Biz (SeoulWire). Lepton claims to be the “original developer of foldable phones” with concepts and prototypes dating back as far as 2008, though the company has never actually released a smartphone.
The lawsuit claims Samsung infringed on nine foldable-related patents from Lepton, including display protection, hardware structure and sensors, and some software elements around multitasking and how apps continue when the phone is unfolded or folded – “app continuity,” as the lawsuit refers to it.
Lepton puts Galaxy Z Fold 3, Flip 3, and all foldables Samsung has released in the time since as infringing products. Samsung’s prior releases aren’t named as the patents were registered in 2021.
As mentioned, Lepton is seeking damages from Samsung, as well as up to a permanent injunction on Galaxy foldables in the United States, which would ban devices such as Galaxy Z Fold 7 in the region.
If you’re thinking about how “Lepton” doesn’t sound familiar, you’re not alone there. As mentioned, the “company” has never actually released a device, and a prototype called the “Lepton Flex” was never even shown to work. The Biz further points out that Lepton has no public contact details and apparently just two employees.
In short, this is probably a “patent troll” situation.
This self-proclaimed “original developer of foldable phones” is likely a “Non-Practicing Entity” looking to argue for damages in court, with no intention to actually release a product. That’s not to say Samsung couldn’t be penalized here, but a settlement of some sort is much more likely than an actual ban. But, even then, the fact that Lepton first filed these patents in 2021, two years after Samsung started actively selling its foldables, probably gives Samsung a much stronger argument to have this entire case dismissed.
What do you think will happen?
More on Samsung:
- Samsung Wallet ‘Trips’ wants to create a more seamless travel experience than Calendar
- Samsung’s display-less Galaxy Glasses look slim and sleek in first leak
- Galaxy Z Fold 8 ‘Wide’ shows off its new form factor in side-by-side leak [Gallery]
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