Samsung accounted for approximately 36% of InterDigital’s total 2012 licensing revenues

According to InterDigital’s financial report, its total licensing revenues reached $279 M in 2012. The licensees include Samsung, LG, Pantech, Apple, HTC, Acer, BlackBerry, Sony, Sharp, NEC, u-blox AG, Cinterion Wireless, Wistron, and Quanta Computers. Samsung alone accounted approximately 36% of InterDigital’s total licensing revenues in 2012. For over three years S. Korean companies were the top client for InterDigital’s licensing revenues (three years’ total of $412 M) followed by Canadian, Japanese, and Taiwanese companies.

As of December 31, 2012, InterDigital’s patent portfolio consisted of approximately 2,700 U.S. patents including 1,200 pending applications and approximately 16,700 non-U.S. patents including 7,900 pending applications. The patent portfolios cover 2G, 3G and 4G mobile technology, Wireless LANs, and M2M communications technology

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Characteristics of Patent Trolls' Monetization Assets

According to the recent research, titled ‘The AIA 500 Expanded: Effects of Patent Monetization Entities’, patent trolls filed 56% of the patent lawsuits in 2012. To understand the characteristics of patents exploited by patent trolls in liligations filed in 2011 – 2012, we did further analysis of the subset of the researched patents, which are related to telecommunications.

We studied following characteristics of total of 159 patents: number of litigations, assignments (in the USPTO), families, forward citations, Independent claims, and priority date. We found that patents exploited by patent trolls in litigations are generally characterized by high in numbers of litigations, assignments, families, forward citations, Independent claims and early in priority date: averages are 4, 4, 3, 47, 5, and 1997 for numbers of litigations, assignments, families, forward citations, Independent claims, and priority date respectively.

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Public IP Holding Company in S. Korea

According to MK news in S. Korea, Ministry of Science, ITC, and Future Planning (MSIP) is planning public IP holding company. The main purpose of the public IP holding company is to exploit IPRs and technologies of 25 R&D institutes funded from the central government. MISP plans to invest initial fund for commercialization.

S. Korea’s national R&D budget was around $17 billion in 2012, of which more than 60% was spent by the public R&D institutes. MSIP’s plan for public IP holding company is a part of initiatives of newly started Park’s government for the sustainable economic growth of S. Korea.

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Emerging IP Investment Funds in S. Korea

Financial Services Commission in S. Korea recently announced that it will form an IP investment fund for patent acquisition and monetization. Initial funding amount will be around $100 M, and various IP investment models such as ‘sales and lease back’, ‘IP backed financing” will be adopted. Korea Development Bank also formed $100 M IP investment fund specifically for SMEs. It already invested for acquiring patents from several SMEs. Industrial Bank of Korea also announced its plan for forming $2400 M IP investment fund for investing in not only patents but also other types of IP. It also expressed its plan for collaborating with global investment bank such as JP Morgan. 

In addition to the public IP fund, many private sector investors such as venture capitals and private equities also entered into the IP Investment fund market, as the newly started president Park’s government insisted the important of IP for the sustainable economic growth of S. Korea and its commitments to support the formation of IP ecosystem. It is expected that the total amount of IP investment funds in S. Korea will reach $1 B in a few years.

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Samsung R&D spending reached $10.6 billion in 2012

According to Yonhap news in S. Korea, Samsung Electronics invested $10.6 billion for its research and development in 2012. Samsung’s R&D spending was $9.1 billion in 2011. The amount is the largest in the company’s history, which is about 6% of Samsung’s total revenue in 2012. Samsung is also expected to continue growing R&D spending this year, especially for its world leading smartphone business.  

Through its IP-R&D strategic alignment, Samsung filed 6,166 patent applications domestically and 11,973 patent applications globally in 2012. In the US, Samsung obtained 5,081 patents and ranked the second following the top assignee IBM in number of issued patents last year. Samsung also obtained 378 design patents last year in the US. As of April 1, 2013, Samsung holds total of 102,995 patents globally, of which 30,641 patents are granted in the US.

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Samsung’s Changing Patent Strategy

According to Asia Economy in S. Korea, Samsung’s top executives mentioned that Samsung will change its patent strategy from defensive to offensive. As a part of its now patent strategy, Samsung Electronics aggressively hired patent professionals over several years. Now, Samsung’s central IP center includes more than 500 patent professionals.

In addition to the IP center for the patent management of whole Samsung’s business divisions, IM division also has its own patent unit consisting of patent experts from major ICT companies in the US and EU exclusively for its smartphone business. Furthermore, Samsung’s SAIT (Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology) also operating its own patent unit for R&D in emerging technologies.

A Samsung’s top executive mentioned that Samsung will form a creative environment for new ideas creation and encourage its employees file patents from the new ideals. Another Samsung’s top executive also mentioned that Samsung will also form a collaborative ecosystem by providing its patent portfolios to Korean SMEs to help their business.

According to Asia Economy, Samsung is now creating its essential IPRs at the early stage of new products development. Furthermore, Samsung’s patenting activities cover not only the core business such as semiconductors, telecommunications, displays, but also designs and SWs such as UX for smartphones. Samsung also plans to create or acquire patents, which might be used as strategic business weapons for potential patent wars.

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Deep UX: Next Frontline of Smartphone Patent Arms Race

DUXs (Deep User experiences) can be defined as intensified realistic user experiences. The essential building blocks for DUXs are the advanced sensing and locating technologies such as augmented realities and 3D imaging technologies combined with conventional user experience SWs providing the “Look, Feel and Function. Short range wireless technologies (NFC, WBAN, BSN, Gigabit WiFi) connecting to other innovative smart devices (smart glass, smart watch, smart TV) will also play an important role in providing DUXs through smartphones.

Many smartphone experts expect that no significant upgrade will be possible for a viable time from the current main specifications for premium smartphones: Double-Quad core mobile application processor, Full HD (1920×1080) OLED display, 13 megapixels camera. Thus, it is expected that innovations for DUXs will lead the competitions among premium smartphones for the time being.

From the above mentioned expectation, therefore, no one will doubt about the important of IPRs for DUXs in preparing possible future smartphone patent wars. Then, the question will be “what is the best strategy for creating, acquiring, and exploiting the essential IPRs for DUXs?”

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LG’s Offensive Patent Strategy

LG usually hesitated to exploit its high quality patents as strategic business weapons. Recently, however, LG shows its changing patent strategy through patent infringement dispute with Samsung. First of all, LG rejected Samsung’s offer for ceasing fire over OLED and LCD patent litigation even if Samsung decided to drop its patent lawsuit against LG. Rather, LG called for monetary remedy.

Additionally, LG also claimed that Samsung illegally used LG’s patented technologies for smartphons and smart TVs. Recently. LG claimed that Samsung’s Galaxy S4 might infringe LG Electronics’ patents for eye sensing and tracking technologies: automatically turned off when the user stopped to looking at the screen; automatically perform and pause video based on user's gaze information etc.

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Novaled & its 500 OLED Patents will be acquired

According to MONEY TODAY in S. Korea, Doosan Corporation, based in Seoul Korea, will acquire Novaled AG including its more than 500 patents for OLEDs. Novaled AG is a leader in commercialization of technologies and materials that enhance the performance of OLEDs, which are a KSF for flat panel display products including smartphone display. According to Display Search, the market of the OLED products is expected to be about $38 B in 2018.

As of Q1 2013, there were 40 issued US patents:

1           8,329,898

Pyrido[3,2-h]quinazolines and/or 5,6-dihydro derivatives thereof, a method for the production thereof and doped organic semiconductor material containing these

2           8,324,613

Method for producing an electronic device with a layer structure and an electronic device

3           8,263,429

Light-emitting component and process for its preparation

4           8,258,501

Use of a metal complex as an n-Dopant for an organic semiconducting matrix material, organic of semiconducting material and electronic component, and also a dopant and ligand and process for producing same

5           8,254,165

Organic electronic memory component, memory component arrangement and method for operating an organic electronic memory component

6           8,227,029

Method for depositing a vapour deposition material

7           8,212,245

Light emitting organic component and method for production thereof

8           8,212,241

Organic field-effect transistor

9           8,203,263

Light emitting organic component with fuse structure

10         RE43,319

Light-emitting component and process for its preparation

11         8,134,146

Heterocyclic radical or diradical, the dimers, oligomers, polymers, dispiro compounds and polycycles thereof, the use thereof, organic semiconductive material and electronic or optoelectronic component

12         8,119,037

Square planar transition metal complexes and organic semiconductive materials using them as well as electronic or optoelectric components

13         8,115,379

Use of metal complexes as emitter in an organic light-emitting component and such a component

14         8,115,003

Pyrido[3,2-h]quinazolines and/or 5,6-dihydro derivatives thereof, a method for the production thereof and doped organic semiconductor material containing these

15         8,084,766

Organic optoelectronic component

16         8,071,976

Organic field-effect transistor and circuit

17         8,057,712

Radialene compounds and their use

18         8,022,619

Top-emitting, electroluminescent component with at least one organic layer

19         7,986,090

Light-emitting component

20         7,981,324

Oxocarbon-, pseudooxocarbon- and radialene compounds and their use

21         7,972,541

Doped organic semiconductor material

22         7,919,010

            Doped organic semiconductor material

23         7,915,815

Transparent light-emitting component

24         7,911,129

Arrangement for an organic pin-type light-emitting diode and method for manufacturing

25         7,884,209

Use of bora-tetraazapentalenes

26         7,858,967

Doped semiconductor material and process for production thereof

27         7,830,089

Electronic device with a layer structure of organic layer

28         7,807,687

Pyrido[3,2-h]quinazolines and/or 5,6-dihydro derivatives thereof, a method for the production thereof and doped organic semiconductor material containing these

29         7,781,961

Top emitting, electroluminescent component with frequency conversion centres

30         7,656,370

Method and circuit arrangement for the ageing compensation of an organic light-emitting diode and circuit arrangement

31         7,598,519

Transparent light-emitting component

32         7,589,463

Top-emitting device and illumination device

33         7,540,978

Use of an organic matrix material for producing an organic semiconductor material, organic semiconductor material and electronic component

34         7,507,649

Method for electrical doping a semiconductor material with Cesium

35         7,355,197

Light-emitting component and process for its preparation

36         7,274,141

Inverted organic light emitting diode with doped layers

37         7,161,292

White light LED with multicolor light-emitting layers of macroscopic structure widths, arranged on a light diffusing glass

38         7,151,007

Doped organic semiconductor materials and process for their preparation

39         7,074,500

Light emitting component comprising organic layers

40         6,908,783

Method of doping organic semiconductors with quinonediimine derivatives

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Samsung Galaxy S4 might infringe LG’s Patents

According to Yonhap news in S. Korea, LG Electronics claimed that Samsung’s brand new smartphone Galaxy S4 might infringe LG Electronics’ patents US8331993 and US20120083312. The functions of Galaxy S4 at issue are the eye sensing and tracking technologies: automatically turned off when the user stopped to looking at the screen; automatically perform and pause video based on user's gaze information etc.

Samsung Electronics, however, rebutted LG’s infringement claim by arguing that its implementation is based on Samsung’s pending patents and different from LG’s methods claimed in the patents.

The relevant parts of the patents are as follows.

US8331993: Mobile terminal and operation control method thereof

10. A method of controlling the operation of a mobile terminal, the method comprising: detecting user's gaze information which indicates a line connecting a user's eyes to a display unit of the mobile terminal; changing a first delay time T1 to a second delay time T2 by determining whether the user stares at the display unit based on the user's gaze information; and executing screen lock when a user input is not received for the second delay time T2, wherein the changing step further comprises extending the first delay time T1 to the second delay time T2 when determining that the user stares at the display unit based on the user's gaze information or reducing the first delay time T1 to the second delay time T2 when determining that the user does not stare at the display unit based on the user's gaze information.

11. The method of claim 10, the method further comprising: capturing an image of the user for detecting the user's gaze information.

US20120083312: Mobile terminal and operation control method thereof

8. A mobile terminal, comprising: a camera; a display module configured to display a stereoscopic 3D image, which is created based on the disparity between left- and right-eye images; and a controller configured to, in response to an occurrence of a communication event being detected, determine a position of a user's gaze on the stereoscopic 3D image by performing eye tracking based on an image of the user captured by the camera and to displaying notice information indicating the occurrence of the communication event at a portion of the stereoscopic 3D image corresponding to the determined gaze position.

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