Samsung Set To Sue Asian Phone Makers, Says Report

LONDON — South Korean consumer giant Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. is preparing to file lawsuits against a number of mobile phone handset makers in Taiwan, mainland China and Hong Kong, who it alleges have copied its products and breached its patents, according to a Taiwan government online report.

The allegations in the lawsuits include that companies copy the designs and functions of Samsung mobile phones and leak secret Samsung documents, the report said.

Samsung suits are set to target Taiwan's Tatung Corp., Sampo Corp., and DNET Inc. as well as Hitachi of Japan, the report said. Samsung has been investigating mobile phones that are similar to its own D508, E708, and E720 models, including DNET's DG212, Tatung's TC809, Hitachi's HTG-S208 and more than one of Sampo's phones, the report added.

Samsung's Taiwan subsidiary confirmed Samsung was preparing action and said a first round of legal action would begin some time in February, the report said. The report also said that Samsung is planning to demand apologies in newspapers from retailers and dealers that have sold the offending cell phones.

Tatung has responded by saying that Samsung should address its concerns to its contract manufacturers which it has made responsible for any intellectual property violations when making phones, the report said.It is not known whether location-based services are one of the features at issue in the dispute but an article here at Mobile Handset Designline discusses their proper deployment.