Taiwanese firm Largan Precision Co has filed a case against Samsung Electronics Co for patent infringement regarding its six imaging lenses. The smartphone camera lens manufacturer said Samsung used the patented lens technology in its Galaxy Note and S series smartphones. The case was filed on November 14 in a US federal court in San Diego. Largan Precision is looking for unspecified "treble damages," but this was not defined by the company. Largan has also included in its lawsuit that imports of the said Samsung products that were found to have equipped with copied Largan's patented lens be stopped.
Largan claimed in its lawsuit that it was the largest mobile devices imaging lens products designer and manufacturer in the world. Information from Bloomberg said Largan makes and sells lenses for liquid crystal display projectors, scanners, optical mice, digital still cameras, digital versatile discs, light-emitting diodes and photography mobile phones.
Taiwan-based Largan also revealed that it had already filed cases against its rivals Genius Electronic Optical Co and Ability Opto-Electronics Technology Co for patent infringement also. The cases against its Taiwan-listed competitors were filed this year. According to Amanda Chiu, Largan's investor relations employee, the company may still file cases against other firms. She declined to reveal if Samsung used to be or is a current client of Largan.
In a statement, South Korea-based Samsung Electronics said about the Largan lawsuit, "We are carefully reviewing this matter and not able to provide any details at this moment."
Largan's customers included Apple Inc and Microsoft Corp. In a note, SinoPac Securities Corp said the lawsuit from the Taiwan-based firm showed that it was confident about its patents. The note said it underscored the company's position as a leader in high-end camera lenses. Jih Sun Securities Investment Consulting Co also said in a research note that Largan affirmed its position as a market leader by protecting its patents.
Join the Conversation