Asus sues Samsung for patent infringement on its wireless communication technologies

Samsung stands preeminent as the smartphone manufacturer boasting the highest global market share, with myriad Galaxy series 4G and 5G smartphones permeating every corner of the world. ASUS, despite its melancholic foray into the smartphone arena, marked by an unremarkable market share, once teetered on the brink of obliterating its Zenfone series, mulling retention solely of its ROG models. Nevertheless, ASUS still possesses a trove of proprietary technologies within the communication domain.

According to DigiTimes, ASUS is taking legal recourse against Samsung, lodging a patent infringement suit in the Eastern District of Texas over a wireless communication patent (U.S. Patent No. 10,187,878). This patent, eloquently delineated as a “method and apparatus for enhancing transmission using configuration resources in wireless communication systems,” envelops both 4G and 5G smartphones. Whispers suggest ASUS reached out to Samsung approximately eighteen months prior, seeking remuneration for the use of its patented technology. Alas, a consensus remained elusive.

ASUS’s dalliance with mobile phones can be traced back to 2003, yet it never ascended to the echelons of industry titans. Statistical narratives project that ASUS’s ROG and Zenfone series, combined, would clock in a sales figure hovering around 600,000 units in 2023. In stark juxtaposition, Samsung had already offloaded a staggering 260 million smartphones in 2022. Despite this chasm in market magnitude, ASUS’s audacious legal maneuver against Samsung underscores their unwavering faith in their patented technology.

The quandary, however, lies in the fact that lawsuits involving standard-essential patents are notoriously protracted, often spanning years. Even if the scales of justice were to tip in ASUS’s favor, mandating Samsung to dispense related fees, the financial injection into ASUS’s smartphone enterprise would be but a drop in the ocean, offering scant relief. Concurrently, there looms the possibility of both entities entering the labyrinthine negotiations for cross-licensing agreements, a journey likely to span several more years.