The USA Worldwide Commerce Fee (ITC) has formally launched an investigation into whether or not Samsung Electronics’ Galaxy Watches infringed on the patents of a U.S. firm. This follows a lawsuit filed by Texas-based startup UnaliWear claiming that Samsung Electronics, Apple, Google, and others unlawfully misappropriated its core “fall detection” know-how. The patent dispute has now unfold from Galaxy Ring to Galaxy Watch.
Based on the U.S. Federal Register on Jan. 12, the ITC introduced it has initiated an investigation to find out whether or not Samsung Electronics, Apple, Google, Garmin, and others violated Part 337 of the Tariff Act. The Federal Register particularly named Samsung Electronics’ Suwon headquarters and its New Jersey U.S. company as respondents. The ITC defined that it “will examine allegations of patent infringement within the import and sale of sure wearable units with fall detection performance and their parts inside the US.”
This investigation is an extension of the damages lawsuit that UnaliWear filed towards Samsung Electronics within the Marshall Division of the U.S. District Court docket for the Jap District of Texas in December final yr. Within the criticism, UnaliWear specified that Samsung Electronics’ smartwatch product lineup, together with the newest Galaxy Watch 8, infringed its patents. The declare is that the general mechanism by which Galaxy Watch supplies fall detection performance via integration with the Samsung Well being utility and analyzes customers’ sleep cycles and organic indicators to determine indicators of well being abnormalities is much like UnaliWear’s Kanega Medical Alert Watch know-how.
Based in 2013, UnaliWear focuses on creating machine learning-based senior care wearable units. The corporate demanded even punitive damages, claiming that Samsung Electronics knowingly and intentionally continued product gross sales regardless of being conscious of the patent infringement.
Samsung Electronics now faces ITC investigations for each of its main wearable units, Galaxy Watch and Ring. Beforehand, Finnish healthcare firm Oura Well being Oy filed a criticism with the ITC in November final yr, alleging that Samsung Electronics’ Galaxy Ring infringed its patents. Trade watchers interpret these successive lawsuits because of blended market dominance protection and monetization methods.
They analyze that whereas Oura, which holds the highest market share in good rings, seems to be making a defensive transfer to dam Samsung Electronics’ offensive, UnaliWear is pursuing the ITC criticism to achieve advantageous floor in royalty negotiations.
Samsung Electronics should submit a response to the ITC inside 20 days from the investigation graduation date. ITC investigations sometimes take roughly 15 to 18 months. If patent infringement is acknowledged within the ultimate ruling, there are issues that the related merchandise’ export routes to the US could possibly be blocked.
