Caltech takes Samsung to Court

The California Institute of Technology has again knocked on the doors of the court and this time Samsung is at its target. CalTech is alleging Samsung of infringing its Wi-Fi patents. However, a complaint is filed in the East Texas Federal Court. This complaint is followed by CalTech’s $1.1 billion wins against Broadcom and another company last year. Caltech said in the new lawsuit, “Samsung’s Galaxy phones, tablets, and watches use Wi-Fi chips that infringe five of our data-transmission patents, in addition to other Wi-Fi-enabled Samsung products including televisions and refrigerators”

Samsung chose to stay silent for every request made for their comment on the matter. Caltech’s case was represented by attorney Daniel Shih of Susman Godfrey before the court.  Pasadena-based Caltech was entitled of receiving $1.1 billion in royalties from Broadcom and another company when the court observed that Wi-Fi chips used in millions of devices infringed the patents of Caltech. However, the companies including Broadcom appealed against this verdict, which is still pending at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.

Samsung Electronics recently said, “Weare making three advanced chips tailored specifically for cars to address the global semiconductor shortage.” Caltech said in its lawsuit, “We are seeking a reasonable royalty from Samsung as in the case against Broadcom and other companies.” Caltech not only sued Samsung but also Microsoft earlier this year in the West Texas courts where it seemed to allege Microsoft of infringing four of the patents. Although, that case has been paused until the Federal Circuit’s rules on that appeal made by companies including Broadcom.

The school’s lawsuit against Microsoft said, “The Company’s Surface tablets, laptops, and Xbox video game systems infringe.” However, Microsoft has vehemently denied every allegation made upon it and further seemed to argue that Caltech's patents are invalid. The case can be reached with the name California Institute of Technology v. Samsung Electronics Co, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas bearing case no. 2:21-cv-00446.