14 DAY TRIAL // Samsung is being used by a US-based company for allegedly infringing on three different patents with biometric authentication technology used on a series of phones, including the Galaxy S8.
Data encryption company PACid Technologies, says Samsung’s Galaxy S6, S7, S8, and Edge versions that were launched in the past used fingerprint and facial recognition solutions covered by three of the patent it owns. The firm says PASS biometric software and KNOX also violate its patents.
PACid is seeking to obtain up to $3 billion in the lawsuit, and the company filed a complaint on April 6 with the Texas Eastern District Court.
A report from The Korea Herald suggests that PACid might actually be a patent troll that only seeks to obtain money from tech giants, as lawsuits against other large companies, like Google, Apple, and Nintendo, have also been filed in the past. It’s expected that new suits based on these allegations would be started again and targets could include Google and LG.
Apple lost lawsuit against patent troll
Samsung says it’s prepared to go to legal wars against PACid, so there’s a good chance the South Korean firm isn’t seeking a settlement.
Tech giants are often sued by patent trolls in an attempt to make money pretty much out of nothing and accusing companies of using their technologies without authorization. Apple is typically the preferred targets of patent trolls, though in many cases, the lawsuits end when these companies abandon the legal action.
On the other hand, Apple has recently lost a lawsuit against such a patent troll called VirtnetX Holding Corp., with a federal jury in Texas ordering Cupertino to pay no less than $502.6 million in damages. VirtnetX claims a number of technologies implemented by Apple and used in services like FaceTime and iMessage violated four of its patents covering secure communications. The lawsuit was started in 2010.