Irish patent firm files infringement lawsuit against Nintendo

Dublin-based patents company Solas OLED, which won an $80 million (€71 million) intellectual property battle with Samsung earlier this year, has filed a lawsuit against Nintendo.

The patent infringement lawsuit, which was filed in the US district court in Texas, contends that the OLED display on Nintendo’s Switch console infringes four of Solas’s patents.

The lawsuit is similar to that filed against Samsung in a different court in Texas, which the consumer entertainment giant lost on appeal recently.

The Eastern District of Texas in March found Samsung guilty of infringing two Solas OLED screen display patents by using them in the displays of Galaxy S and Galaxy Note smartphones. Samsung lost an appeal against the ruling in October but is now expected to take its case to a higher court.

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Solas OLED has said that despite the court ruling, Samsung continues to use its IP in products, including in the Switch OLED, which Nintendo launched in October. It includes a seven-inch OLED panel supplied by the tech giant.

“Samsung’s continual and knowingly unauthorised use and infringement of Solas’s patents is emblematic of the irreverent attitude of Samsung Group to the patents of others,” the Dublin-based group said.

“This attitude serves only to erode a system intended to protect and foster innovation; and Solas will continue to fight to protect the efforts and intellectual property created by others and to stop Samsung’s pervasive pilfering of patented technologies.”

Licensing

Established in 2016, Solas OLED is a technology licensing company that has patents covering the design, circuitry and manufacturing of organic light-emitting diode (OLED) displays.

The advanced technology produces a superior image and is used in a variety of products including televisions, smartphones, tablets and watches.

Solas OLED is one of a number of so-called non-practising entries that share directors and the same address in Dublin. They are managed by Atlantic IP Services and backed by Magnetar Capital, an alternative asset manager that has about $13 billion in assets under management.

These licensing companies do not produce technology of their own but instead pursue companies alleged to be in breach of patents they have acquired.

Neodron, a related company, reached a multimillion-dollar settlement with 10 of the world's largest consumer electronics giants over the use of IP it owns earlier this year. Its patents enable capacitive touch sensor and controller functionality for smartphones, smartwatches, tablets, smart appliances and automotive displays.

Samsung did not respond to a request for comment.