Samsung has revealed that – if everything goes according to plan – the Samsung Galaxy Ring will launch “around August.” But that might be quite a big if.
That’s because this rough August release date was revealed in a legal document submitted to the US District Court in California. Samsung is requesting a ruling that the Galaxy Ring doesn’t infringe on patents held by Oura Health, while also pointing to five patents that it’s seemingly using to frame Oura as a patent troll.
As a long-standing smart ring maker – with impressive fitness trackers like the Oura (Generation 3) device – it makes sense that Oura would have several patents that protect aspects of its designs; however Samsung is arguing that these five patents, which include a patent on having a battery in the ring and the ring giving users a fitness score, aren’t unique features to Oura’s rings and are instead “features common to virtually all smart rings” and therefore should not have been granted.
Another decade, another Samsung patent battle
This isn’t Samsung’s first patent-fighting rodeo. It fought Apple in various legal battles in various parts of the world spanning the early to mid 2010s. In the US, one battle eventually led to a $120 million defeat for Samsung, but it secured minor victories along the way and did win some cases in other countries.
It wouldn’t be Oura’s first fight either. As pointed out in the Samsung submission to the California District Court, Oura has sued various smart ring manufacturers over the years including RingConn and Ultrahuman alleging they infringed its patents.
Samsung added that it expected Oura to also sue it over the Galaxy Ring design noting how much Oura has been talking about the strength of its IP portfolio since the Galaxy Ring was revealed. One such instance is an unprompted statement Oura sent to tech news sites like TechRadar following the Galaxy Ring’s announcement highlighting that it held “100 granted patents, 270 pending patent applications, and 130+ registered trademarks.”
Oura also added that it found that “new players entering the space is validation for the category,” suggesting it welcomed the competition Samsung’s Galaxy Ring might bring.
Right now it’s unclear how things will proceed.
If Samsung is successful, the path is cleared to a Galaxy Ring August launch – which will likely tie into a Summer Unpacked event. On the flip side, a loss here may force the tech giant to delay the Galaxy Ring or launch it lacking several key features. Neither of which would be preferable.
This also almost certainly won’t be the last time we talk about this dispute. However the verdict falls, we predict the losing side will appeal the decision.
As the situation develops you can be sure we’ll keep you in the know.
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hamish.hector@futurenet.com (Hamish Hector)
