Last June, Samsung unexpectedly sued smart ring manufacturer Oura, seeking a court declaration that its unreleased Galaxy Ring did not infringe on five of Oura's patents. However, a judge recently dismissed Samsung's lawsuit, stating that Samsung acted prematurely and lacked concrete evidence that Oura planned to sue.
Samsung argued that Oura has a history of suing competitors for patent infringement, citing lawsuits against Ultrahuman, RingConn, and Circular for allegedly infringing patents on common smart ring features such as sensors, batteries, and health metrics. Samsung also cited Oura's public statement upon Samsung's announcement of the Galaxy Ring, highlighting Oura's 270 pending patent applications and 130 registered trademarks. Oura's CEO, Tom Hale, also mentioned that Oura would monitor the Galaxy Ring and "take appropriate action."
However, Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín stated that Samsung's lawsuit offered no evidence of Oura taking any action against Samsung, and Oura's public statements alone were insufficient to demonstrate that Oura had targeted Samsung. The judge noted that only three of Samsung's cited statements mentioned the Galaxy Ring, and none directly threatened Samsung.
Jasjit Vidwan, Oura's legal counsel, stated that the dismissal confirmed Oura's belief from the outset that Samsung's lawsuit lacked a reasonable legal or factual basis. Vidwan pointed out that Samsung's attempt to litigate in a court of its choosing without an actual dispute was unreasonable.
Despite the dismissal, Samsung's move is noteworthy. First, the preemptive lawsuit confirmed unreleased features of an unlaunched product. Second, preemptively blocking patent infringement on a product not yet on the market is unusual. This event further demonstrates Samsung's significant interest in the relatively niche smart ring category.
Key takeaways:
💡 Samsung's lawsuit against Oura was dismissed due to lack of substantial evidence.
📅 The judge stated that Oura had not taken any action against Samsung.
🔍 This event highlights Samsung's interest in the smart ring market.
