Smartphone camera lens maker Largan Precision Co (大立光) has sued Motorola Mobility LLC for patent infringement, the Apple Inc supplier said on Monday.
Largan said it has filed a lawsuit with a court in the Northern District of California, accusing Motorola Mobility, which is under the corporate umbrella of China’s Lenovo Group Ltd (聯想), of infringing on six patents related to 5G smartphone camera lens production.
While Largan did not elaborate on its claims, the company reiterated its determination to safeguard its intellectual property rights through legal action.
Photo: Chen Mei-ying, Taipei Times
Local media reported on Monday that the lawsuit involved patents for super-wide-angle lenses infringed upon by the front and rear camera lenses used by Motorola Mobility in its One 5G Ace model.
Motorola Mobility, a spinoff of Motorola Inc, was sold in 2011 to Google, which then sold the mobile phone assets to Lenovo in 2014.
Motorola Mobility was the third-largest smartphone vendor in the US in the first nine months of this year, with a market share of 8 percent, behind Apple’s 43 percent and Samsung Electronics Co’s 35 percent.
Largan has resorted to legal action to protect its intellectual property rights in the past.
In 2013, Largan sued Taiwanese rival Genius Electronic Optical Co (玉晶光) in a court in the US for infringing on five patents involving smartphone camera lenses, and sued Samsung, also in a US court, accusing it of stealing six smartphone camera lens patents.
In 2019, Largan turned its attention to the notebook computer market by suing HP Inc and Taiwanese camera lens makers Ability Opto-Electronics Technology Co (先進光電) and Newmax Technology Co (新鉅科) in a US court, accusing them of infringing on four of its patents.
Those intellectual property right disputes were all settled with royalties received by Largan.
As for the lawsuit against Samsung, Largan secured large orders from the South Korean company through a settlement agreement.
Analysts said the lawsuit brought against Motorola Mobility by Largan aimed to fend off competition from the so-called “red supply chain” in China as it tries to expand its market share in that market.
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