Galaxy Ring: Judge dismisses Samsung lawsuit against Oura

Samsung's lawsuit against the Finnish manufacturer of smart rings Oura has been dismissed. The judge in charge, Araceli Martínez-Olguín from a district court in California, granted Oura's motion to dismiss the case, reports patent expert Florian Müller on IP Fray.

According to IP Fray, Samsung still has until April 25 to file a revised complaint. Samsung could decide to play for time, the magazine writes. This is because Samsung's primary aim with the lawsuit was to pre-empt a possible lawsuit by Oura against Samsung's Galaxy Ring. Samsung wanted to buy time with its lawsuit and establish an advantageous court venue with the District Court in California.

"Arbitrary assertion of patent infringements"

Samsung filed the declaratory judgment action against Oura last summer. The court should determine that Samsung's upcoming Galaxy Ring does not infringe Oura's patents. Such a declaratory judgment action is necessary, Samsung argued in the statement of claim, because Oura has a long history of "arbitrarily asserting patent infringement claims against all competitors in the smart ring market".

"Each time a major competitor has developed or launched a product, Oura has filed a patent infringement lawsuit against that competitor," Samsung writes. Oura has sued the companies Ultrahuman, Circular and RingConn, among others.

However, Judge Martínez-Olguín rejected this argument in her ruling: Samsung had not provided sufficient evidence that Oura was seeking action to secure its patents against Samsung. A dispute between the parties must be tangible and concrete and not merely based on a hypothetical situation.

In order to file a revised complaint, Samsung must cite actions by Oura that took place prior to the original complaint –. Any steps taken by Oura in the meantime are therefore no longer admissible for the complaint.

Samsung is playing for time

Samsung's declaratory action specifically concerns five patents that describe wearable devices. In his lawsuits, Oura has often relied on "common, general features" that can be found in practically all smart rings. For example, in the lawsuits against competitors Ultrahuman, Circular and RingConn, Oura argued that a ring with electronics, sensors and a battery infringed Oura's patents.

Even though the Samsung lawsuit has now been dismissed, the South Korean manufacturer is probably not entirely unhappy with the situation. Samsung has gained time in a potential patent dispute with Oura. The Galaxy Ring was launched on July 10.

(dahe)