Samsung Display and Chinese display manufacturer BOE have been battling in court over OLED patent infringement claims since 2023. In November 2024, the US International Trade Commission (USITC) issued a preliminary conclusion in favor of Samsung Display, and this week, the USITC upheld its determination.
According to industry officials (via The Korea Times), the USITC decided on Wednesday that BOE infringed on three Samsung Display patents related to OLED technology. In addition, the USITC ruled that US wholesalers have infringed on four Samsung OLED patents.
How it all began a few years ago
This saga began in 2022. At that time, Samsung Display realized that US wholesalers were importing unofficial Galaxy phone OLED panels from China and filed complaints against 17 component wholesalers in the USA.
BOE was brought into this legal dispute in early 2023 when it was found that some of those cloned Samsung OLED panels from China were manufactured by BOE, allegedly using stolen patents.
The Chinese display maker then fired back at several Samsung subsidiaries by launching a barrage of lawsuits in China. Samsung responded by filing five patent infringement complaints against BOE in Texas, China, and Shanghai in mid-2023.
Samsung offers official replacement parts
According to the latest report, the USITC decided on Wednesday against banning BOE from supplying the US market with OLED panels. The USITC ruled that even though some of those cloned OLED panels imported by wholesalers originated from BOE, the patent infringements didn't impact US industries significantly enough to justify a ban.
Nevertheless, the UITC ruled in favor of Samsung Display for three of five OLED patent disputes with BOE in the USA. Industry officials believe this ruling will have a significant favorable outcome for Samsung Display.
Since a lawsuit involving the same patents is currently ongoing at the Texas court, this USITC ruling is expected to have a significant impact on the case.
Aside from these patent disputes, Samsung Display and BOE are competing over the OLED market mainly because of Apple. The iPhone maker uses Samsung as its primary display supplier for iPhones but has attempted to bring BOE on board for years. BOE eventually entered Apple's supply chain. However, on numerous occasions, Apple rejected OLED panels from BOE due to quality issues.
