Ray-Ban Meta: Billion-dollar lawsuit over patent infringement

Startup Solos has filed a lawsuit against smart glasses market leader Meta in a Massachusetts federal court. Solos accuses Meta of willful infringement of several patents covering “core technologies in the field of smart glasses,” reports Bloomberg.

The lawsuit also targets eyewear manufacturer EssilorLuxottica and its subsidiary Oakley, who, in collaboration with Meta, are marketing an ever-growing smart glasses portfolio. Solos is seeking billions in damages and a court injunction that could significantly disrupt the sale of Ray-Ban Meta.

According to the complaint, which Bloomberg quotes, Oakley employees had insight into Solos' smart glasses technology as early as 2015. EssilorLuxottica is also said to have met with Solos personnel multiple times throughout 2017, gaining knowledge of the company's concepts and roadmap. “By the time Meta launched smart glasses products together with EssilorLuxottica around 2021, both parties had accumulated direct, detailed, executive-level knowledge of Solos' technology over years,” the complaint states.

Market Success Fuels Patent Battles

Solos started a decade ago as an internal division of microdisplay manufacturer Kopin and was spun off in 2019. Current smart glasses models, similar to Ray-Ban Meta, feature built-in speakers and are designed for everyday usability and AI functions, but largely omit a camera. The product range includes prescription glasses, sunglasses, and sports glasses that use ChatGPT for voice queries and offer live translations. A special feature of newer models is that the technology is completely integrated into the temples, allowing the front frames to be exchanged as needed.

While Solos' smart glasses still occupy a niche, Meta has become the market leader within a few years. The start was bumpy: the first joint project between Meta and EssilorLuxottica, the Ray-Ban Stories, flopped in the market. It wasn't until the Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses released in 2023 that the wearables category achieved commercial breakthrough.

After approximately two million units of Ray-Ban Meta glasses were sold by early 2025, EssilorLuxottica significantly revised its original production targets upwards. The smart glasses business has now become a growth engine for the eyewear giant: in the third quarter of 2025, wearables accounted for more than a third of total revenue growth. And according to current reports from Bloomberg, Meta and EssilorLuxottica are even considering doubling their production target to 20 million units per year.

Given the rapidly increasing sales, it's hardly surprising that the tone in the industry is becoming rougher. An intense dispute is already raging in the display glasses segment as well: manufacturer Xreal recently sued Viture for alleged patent infringement. Here, as there, the question is who can claim the technological basis for smart glasses.

(nie)