Samsung Display has been in a patent dispute with Chinese display manufacturer BOE. In November last year, the US International Trade Commission (ITC) issued a preliminary conclusion in favor of the Korean firm and said that a final decision would be made sometime in March 2025. On March 19th, the ITC announced its final decision on the case, confirming that BOE had infringed on Samsung Display’s patents. However, Samsung has not obtained a ban on the import and sale of the infringing products in the US.
Samsung has not obtained an import ban on BOE
After the ITC’s initial decision on the patent dispute, Samsung Display requested to re-examine the decision on the ban on importing and selling patent-infringing products in the US. However, the ITC rejected this request in its final decision. The US ITC grants an import ban on a patent infringement when the company meets at least one of these conditions: significant investment in plants and facilities, significant employment of personnel or capital investment, or actual investment for research and development, licensing, etc.
In Samsung’s case, most of the development and manufacturing takes place in South Korea. If the Korean firm wants to enforce an import ban on BOE, it should increase its product development or manufacturing in the US. Until then, Samsung may pursue other legal options — it has the option to appeal the ITC’s decision to the Federal Circuit (CAFC) within 60 days.
In a separate patent trial invalidation case, Samsung Display is at an advantage as the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) has acknowledged four of Samsung’s patents as valid. Due to PTAB’s decision, BOE and its associated importers have filed an appeal to the Federal Court in hopes of overturning this decision. This lawsuit is currently underway in the Eastern District of Texas Federal Court.
Apart from these patent infringement cases, BOE is under another investigation by ITC. This investigation is regarding an alleged trade secret infringement — case between Samsung Display and BOE. The ITC will give its initial ruling on this case on March 21, 2025.
