Wireless charging is one of my favorite features of modern phones. It’s rare that I actually connect my phone with a cable. But if you have a Samsung phone (and I do), it might decide to stop Qi charging. A recent lawsuit over a wireless charging patent means Samsung will have to pay up or lose access to the feature.
In 2022, Mojo Mobility sued Samsung for infringing five of the former’s US patents on wireless charging in most of its phones sold between 2016 and now. Filing the lawsuit in the infamous East Texas federal district gave Mojo a very good chance at winning – good enough for Samsung to try to invalidate the said patents last year, after Mojo’s licensing efforts had been rejected since 2013. Samsung officially lost the patent case on September 13th, saying it “intentionally infringed” the patents.
The judge ruled that Samsung is liable for an incredible $192,136,029 in damages. In layman’s terms, the legal conclusion is essentially that Samsung stole Mojo Mobility’s designs to use in phones, smartwatches, earbuds, and so on. If Samsung doesn’t pay the fine, it may have to abandon the technology in future products, or develop new ways of wireless charging that don’t infringe on the relevant patents.
It’s possible, but probably unlikely, that the company will be forced to disable wireless charging on existing phones with a software update. This is evident from a report by Phone Arena.
Samsung will almost certainly appeal the decision. The Eastern District of Texas is a favorite court for patent lawsuits, dubbed “patent trolling” by some because of the way the labyrinthine U.S. patent system can be abused, especially because it seems particularly friendly to patent holders.
In fact, Samsung has been in this exact situation, in this exact court, many times before. According to a recent estimate, Samsung is sued by US patent trolls every five days on average. Samsung even sponsored an ice skating rink right in front of the Marshall, Texas courthouse… for entirely altruistic reasons, I’m sure. Samsung is defending itself against these lawsuits with an army of lawyers and a massive effort to file its own technology patents, in the US and around the world.
Even if Samsung’s powerful legal team exhausts all its options, the most likely outcome is simply a very expensive bill (or an undisclosed settlement) paid to Mojo Mobility. Either way, the process will likely take months or even years before actual phone users see an impact, if they notice any at all.
