Patents - Page 12

Samsung Display Corporation (SDC) established a new company to handle patent trading and development in the US. The new company is called Intellectual Keystone Technology (IKT) and it was established in Delaware in March 2013.

Reportedly Samsung invested $25 million in the new company. On April 30 IKT bought several patents from Seiko Epson. According to reports, these are LCD and OLED related patents.

The US Patent Office granted Samsung a new patent (#537228) that describes a bendable TV. The idea is that you can use a remote control to bend the television so you'll get a better viewing angle:

Samsung says that this TV uses a flexible display panel (probably an OLED TV, but it is not mentioned in the patent) and a back panel that can deform the display. In addition, the whole TV sits on a unit that can be rotated. The TV will include special software that adjusts the image so it is not distorted by the bending.

Global OLED Technology (GOT) signed a patent licensing agreement with LG Display. LG Display will pay royalties to GOT, and that's all we know about this agreement. It's a bit surprising because I always assumed LG Display already signed such an agreement years ago.

GOT was established in December 2009 when LG bought Kodak's OLED business (in a deal that was estimated at $100 million). GOT owns more than two thousand OLED related patents, and licenses them to other companies (for example PIOL and OLEDWorks). In 2010, Idemistu Kosan bought 32% of GOT.

The South Korean police searched the offices of Samsung Display as part of the investigation into alleged large-sized OLED TV technology theft from LG Display. Investigators went to SDC's headquarters in Asan and searched related documents.

Samsung and LG have been fighting over OLED (and other technologies) patents for over a year. A few weeks ago the companies agreed to resolve their OLED dispute outside of the court of law and SDC's CEO even said the two companies are considering cross-licensing patents - but the OLED issues between the two Korean giants obviously isn't over.

Google was granted a new patent (filed in July 2013) that describes a technique for saving power on mobile devices with OLED displays. Basically the idea is that the when battery is low, the system can change the display characteristics (lower the resolution, disable animation and use red and black colors only). You can see the basic schema from the chart below, which is actually quite badly written: there's no option for a normal mode, and there's just one check and no loop as there should have been. Oh well...

This patent is only useful and valid for OLED displays. I'm not sure how canceling blur and animation actually conserve power on OLEDs. Showing just red and black colors make sense, and reducing the resolution also makes sense if they mean showing a small image with black around it. In September 2012 Google were granted a patent in which they suggest to reduce the image on a screen when the device is idle - this is basically the same idea which relies on the fact that black pixels on OLED displays do not draw power.

The USPTO unveiled a new patent application by Apple, that describes a mobile device that features a wrap-around flexible AMOLED display (yes, the specifically say it's an OLED display). The whole device is wrapped with the display. The patent also describes a mechanism that determines which parts of the display to use using a camera and a facial recognition software. An OLED is obviously the best choice for a full-color, flexible display that can be efficiently turned-off in some areas.

Apple's patent also describes an option to include multiple transparent displays, overlaid on top of one another. I'm not sure I understand the advantages of using several transparent OLEDs one on top of the other (except for the creation of 3D images). The device shown above represents just one of the concept device designs - Apple also describes "regular" rectangle devices and a cylindrical device. According to the patent the phone body may be totally transparent (made entirely of glass, for example).

Samsung and LG have been fighting over OLED (and other technologies) patents for over a year, but in the last few weeks it was reported that the two companies agreed to resolve their OLED dispute outside of the court of law. Samsung Display's CEO even said the two companies are considering cross-licensing patents.

But this isn't going to be an easy reconciliation. Today LG Electronics is now accusing Samsung Electronics and Samsung Display of illegally using LG's technology, and demands payment from Samsung. LGE is also "doubtful" about SDC's decision to drop a patent suit against LG. LG wants to discuss the payment for these technologies. It's not clear which technolgoies LGE is referring to. We do know that LG claims that the eye-tracking technology Samsung included in the GS4 is patented.

Samsung and LG have agreed to resolve their OLED dispute outside of the court of law, and both companies dropped their injunction lawsuits. Now we hear that the two companies may begin working-level talks to resolve their legal issues in early March. Samsung Display's Kim Ki-nam said that the two companies are considering cross-licensing patents, but it's too early to decide on that yet.

Samsung and LG have been involved in a legal battle over OLED (and other technologies) IP for almost a year now. DisplaySearch speculated that the two Korean giants may eventually collaborate on OLED technology, mostly due to fear from Japanese competition.

Samsung and LG have agreed to resolve their OLED dispute outside of the court of law, and on February 12 Samsung dropped their injunction against LG. Now LG Display announced that dropped their injunction against Samsung's Galaxy Note 10.1, and the company will seek a resolution "through an amicable negotiation".

Samsung and LG have been involved in a legal battle over OLED (and other technologies) IP for almost a year now. DisplaySearch speculated that the two Korean giants may eventually collaborate on OLED technology, mostly due to fear from Japanese competition. Earlier today we reported that Sony and Panasonic may setup an OLED TV production joint venture, and if true this may accelerate a Korean partership as well.

Apple's CEO may say that OLEDs aren't good enough, but every so often we hear of a new Apple patent that deals with OLED displays. Today's new patent (filed in August 2011 but revealed today) describes a flexible screen that can turn into a warp-around bracelet using a bi-stable spring. The patent specifically mentions OLED technology because in the bracelet state most pixels will be off.

Apple is reportedly working on the iWatch - a wearable device that may or may not sport a PMOLED display. A flexible display will be great, but I wouldn't expect the technology to be ready just yet for Apple...