A US jury has ruled in favour of KPN in a patent case against Samsung. The smartphone maker failed to pay $287 million (265 million euros) for the use of KPN patents, the lawsuit alleged.
KPN has now reported on the favourable jury decision from a week and a half ago in its annual report. The four-day court hearing found in favour of KPN, judging that Samsung should be held to the claim in full. Although the Dutch company’s claim is justified according to the jury in Texas, the South Korean smartphone maker is not yet giving up. The company argues that the case should instead be heard by a federal court. It is possible that this could overturn the district-level jury decision.
This is not an unexpected move, as courts in Texas relatively often rule in favour of patent holders. This has been the case for some time, leading to allegations of enabling patent trolls. Companies are said to regularly engage in “forum shopping,” picking locations to bring a case where the likelihood of success is particularly high. However, given the case involves a jury decision, this reputation of Texas courts may well not hold true here.
Unknown patent
The case dates back to September 2022 and involves a license agreement from 2016, reports the Dutch Financieele Dagblad. It is not known exactly which patent dispute is involved. However, KPN and Samsung once previously settled a patent case back in 2016. At the time, the Galaxy S4 and S5 were alleged to have used KPN communications technology without a license being paid.
At least for Samsung, there is some reason to believe the case may play out in their favour still. A federal judge yesterday overturned another decision in a Texas patent case against Samsung. Earlier, it appeared that Samsung would have to pay $67.5 million (62.2 million euros) to G+ Communications, but now a new court hearing is mandated to take place.
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