Samsung Display and China's BOE Technology just ended a brutal three-year patent war that could have reshaped the global display supply chain. The settlement comes as both companies supply critical OLED panels for Apple's iPhones, making this dispute a potential threat to smartphone production worldwide.
Samsung Display and China's BOE Technology have called off their legal war just months before a devastating export ban could have kicked in. The settlement ends a sprawling intellectual property fight that threatened to cut off one of the world's largest display manufacturers from the lucrative US market.
"The two companies have agreed that fair technological competition is essential for the advancement of the display industry," a Samsung Display spokesperson told TechCrunch. Both firms will withdraw all pending lawsuits as part of the agreement, though Samsung declined to confirm Korean media reports that BOE might pay patent royalties.
The timing couldn't be more critical. BOE was facing a potential 15-year ban from exporting OLED panels to the US after the International Trade Commission found the Chinese company had stolen Samsung's trade secrets. That ruling, handed down in July, came on top of an earlier ITC decision that BOE had infringed three Samsung OLED patents.
This wasn't just corporate sparring - it was about the future of display technology. Samsung filed its first complaint in December 2022, alleging patent infringement. But the stakes escalated dramatically when Samsung accused BOE of something far more serious: systematically poaching employees to access confidential OLED manufacturing processes.
The trade secret case painted a picture of industrial espionage that goes beyond typical patent disputes. Samsung claimed BOE deliberately hired away engineers who brought proprietary knowledge about cutting-edge OLED production techniques. The ITC agreed, setting up what could have been a crippling blow to BOE's global ambitions.
BOE isn't just any display maker - it's the world's third-largest supplier of OLED panels, trailing only Samsung and LG. More importantly, both Samsung and BOE supply displays for Apple's iPhones, making this dispute a potential supply chain nightmare for Cupertino. An export ban would have forced Apple to scramble for alternative suppliers or redesign production around non-Chinese components.
