Chinese display maker sues Samsung for copyright infringement

BOE and two of its subsidiaries filed six lawsuits against Samsung and five of its Chinese affiliates—mostly display panel and semiconductor manufacturers—with the Chongqing No. 1 Intermediate People’s Court. BOE also sued Chongqing Jingdong Jiapin Trading, a subsidiary of e-commerce firm JD.com that sells electronics online.

BOE is Apple's major screen supplier. (Photo: Wikipedia)

All eight of BOE’s lawsuits are related to copyright infringement disputes, according to corporate filings. The Chongqing court is scheduled to hear the lawsuit next week, with a hearing scheduled for August 2024.

This is the first time a Chinese tech company has sued Samsung. In December 2022, Samsung filed a complaint with the US International Trade Commission (ITC) against 17 smartphone repair shops in China. The South Korean conglomerate accused these shops of “illegally” purchasing display panels to repair Galaxy and iPhone smartphones.

Samsung claims the products infringe on intellectual property rights, including Diamond Pixel technology that places red, blue and green dots in a diamond shape to optimize sharpness on the display panel.

The ITC began investigating BOE in April, although Samsung's complaint did not name any display suppliers, according to Business Korea .

The dispute between BOE and Samsung is of interest because the Chinese company could overtake Apple as the number one display supplier by 2024. The ITC case is seen as “an indirect warning to Chinese companies as it highlights problems with importers,” according to the Korea Herald .

According to the high-tech portal Ofweek , in early 2022, Samsung suggested that Apple not use BOE's display technology because it only made "minor adjustments" compared to its own display system. In August of the same year, BOE introduced its self-developed Blue Diamond pixel arrangement system, optimizing screen sharpness.

When shareholders questioned Blue Diamond technology in November 2022, BOE asserted that it is a leader in innovation and proactively protects intellectual property rights, while respecting the rights of others.

Founded in 1993, BOE began supplying screens to Apple before the iPhone 12 launched in 2020. In 2021, BOE produced 10% of OLED screens for iPhones, delivering 16 million units to the "Apple", according to market research firm Runto Technology.

(According to SCMP)

China's efforts to control data over the years Beijing has stepped up its control of domestic data through a series of drastic measures, including laws and investigations since 2015.

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