Garrity Power Services LLC has quite recently filed a Patent Infringement Lawsuit against the South Korean multinational conglomerate, Samsung, in the Eastern District of Texas. The lawsuit filed claims that Samsung has infringed upon the US Patent No. 9,906,067 (entitled – Apparatus, System, and Method to Wirelessly Charge or Discharge a Battery) by using the same in the Wireless PowerShare feature of its products.
The patent corresponds to bidirectional wireless charging, which is used, for instance, to charge Galaxy Buds. Samsung’s allegedly infringing products, which include Galaxy S10e, GalaxyS10, Galaxy Note10, Galaxy Note 10+, Galaxy Fold, Galaxy S20 5G, and Galaxy Note 20 Ultra 5G, make use of the Wireless PowerShare feature. According to Garrity Power Services (plaintiff), Samsung markets this feature heavily, and the same is quite prominent in its advertisements too.
In the lawsuit filed, the plaintiff has claimed that Samsung has allegedly infringed upon at least claims 1 and 15 of the said patent. As per the plaintiff’s statement, Samsung’s Wireless PowerShare feature has purportedly used the same processes (as the patent in question) to allow the users to charge another device from Samsung’s accused products.
The plaintiff has accused Samsung of direct and indirect infringement through contributory or induced infringement. Additionally, the plaintiff has claimed that it did notify Samsung last year in April about its purported infringement of the patent in question; however, the tech giant continued its act of infringement and kept advertising the Wireless PowerShare feature despite being aware of its supposed infringement. Furthermore, the plaintiff also stated that Samsung refused the claim chart due to which it couldn’t effectively evaluate the patent in question corresponding to the accused product.
The plaintiff believes that it has indeed been harmed by Samsung’s conduct. As of now, Garrity Power Services has sought a declaratory judgment in its favor, an injunction, monetary relief and royalties, an award for costs and fees, and other relief.