On Monday in the Eastern District of Texas, Samsung was sued by Garrity Power Services for patent infringement. The lawsuit claimed that Samsung infringed United States Patent No. 9,906,067, entitled “Apparatus, System and Method to Wirelessly Charge/Discharge a Battery,” in its products’ Wireless PowerShare feature.
The patent “relates to bidirectional wireless charging,” which is used, for example, to charge Galaxy Buds. Samsung’s allegedly infringing products, including the Galaxy Fold, Galaxy Note10, Galaxy Note 10+, Galaxy S10e, GalaxyS10, Galaxy S20 5G, and Galaxy Note 20 Ultra 5G, utilize their Wireless PowerShare feature. The plaintiff stated that Samsung heavily markets this feature and it is prominent in advertisements.
Samsung allegedly infringed at least claims 1 and 15 of the patent. Specifically, the plaintiff averred that Samsung’s Accused product consisted of “a first magnetic core piecepart having a first metallic coil encircling at least a portion thereof and configured to be coupled to, aligned with and removable from a second magnetic core piecepart … and a battery metallically coupled to said first metallic coil and configured to be charged and discharged through an electrically isolating path of said transformer.” Thus, Samsung’s Wireless PowerShare feature purportedly used the same processes to allow users to wirelessly charge another device from Samsung’s accused products.
Samsung is accused of direct and indirect infringement via induced or contributory infringement. Furthermore, the plaintiff claimed it notified Samsung in April 2019 about its purported infringement of the patent-in-suit; however, Garrity Power Services alleged that Samsung continued to infringe the patent, despite its awareness of its supposed infringement and it continued to advertise the Wireless PowerShare feature.
Additionally, the plaintiff stated that Samsung refused the claim chart and could not effectively evaluate the patent-in-suit in relation to its accused product and Samsung’s alleged need of a license for the patent.
The plaintiff, represented by Spencer Fane LLP and Capshaw DeRieux, LLP, claimed that it has been harmed by Samsung’s conduct. Garrity Power Services has sought a declaratory judgment in its favor, monetary relief and royalties, an injunction, an award for costs and fees, and other relief.
