The legal disputes between Samsung Display and China's BOE appear to be heating up. A new report from the local media citing industry sources says Samsung Display has filed a patent infringement lawsuit in the United States against BOE.
Out of the two companies, BOE has been attacking Samsung Display through whatever legal means possible for nearly half a year now.
In May, BOE launched a barrage of patent infringement lawsuits against Samsung and its subsidiaries in China. This was believed to be a retaliation against Samsung Display after the latter company requested the ban of 17 wholesalers in the USA. This was back in January, and following the request, the US ITC started a patent infringement investigation on BOE.
Last month, the Chinese display maker also teamed up with CSOT, Tianma, and Visionox to kickstart a trial for patent invalidation for an OLED patent owned by Samsung Display.
It's the first time Samsung Display fires back at BOE
Up until now, Samsung Display never attacked BOE directly. The US ITC investigation earlier this year was not decided by Samsung, for example. Samsung Display attempted to stop wholesalers from selling copycat OLED panels in the USA, arguing that they were illegally manufactured in China based on Samsung patents. This move eventually led to a BOE investigation.
After the barrage of lawsuits in China and the panel maker trying to invalidate a Samsung OLED patent with the help of other Chinese display brands, the Korean tech giant is reportedly firing back directly at BOE for the first time. The recent report (via The Korea Times) says Samsung Display has now filed a lawsuit against BOE for OLED patent infringement, marking the first time the Korean display giant is attacking BOE directly in the court of law.
This move is also viewed as an attempt by Samsung to protect its OLED intellectual properties, as panel makers from China are becoming more proficient at manufacturing OLED displays. BOE is one of Apple's OLED panel suppliers, albeit a minor one in the grand scheme.
