Samsung Display and China’s BOE Technology, a supplier of OLED displays used in Apple devices, they agreed to settle a patent lawsuit related to OLED technology;
“The two companies have agreed that fair technological competition is essential to the progress of the display industry,” and have therefore decided to drop all pending lawsuits, a Samsung Display spokesperson confirmed to TechCrunch. “We [also] plan to withdraw all current legal action as part of this agreement.”
Samsung Display declined to comment in reports that BOE may pay patent royalties to the Korean hardware giant as part of the settlement. The BOE did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The settlement leads to a long-running, three-year battle between Samsung’s display division and BOE, which supplies display panels used in Apple’s iPhones. Samsung in December 2022 filed a complaint with the US International Trade Commission (ITC), alleging that BOE infringed its OLED patents, and subsequently filed a new case in October 2023accusing the Chinese company of stealing trade secrets by poaching employees for access to confidential OLED manufacturing processes and technologies.
In March 2025, the ITC ruled that BOE had infringed three of Samsung Display’s OLED patents. On the trade secret side, at preliminary ruling issued in July, the ITC found that BOE had misappropriated Samsung Display’s OLED trade secrets and recommended ban the Chinese company has been exporting OLED panels to the US for nearly 15 years.
Now, the companies appear to have asked the ITC to terminate its investigation. When reached for confirmation, ITC declined to comment.
The settlement comes as major tech companies try to reduce their reliance on Chinese manufacturers for components used in their devices. A US export ban would certainly be terrible news for BOE, which is one of the world’s largest suppliers of LCD and OLED displays. behind Samsung and LG.
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The Samsung case underscored growing concern about intellectual property theft. In July 2024, A South Korean court has convicted a former Samsung Display engineer to six years in prison for leaking about $24.5 million worth of OLED technology to China. And last month, South Korean police opened one research following suspicions of two LG Display employees leaks of exclusive display technologies in a Chinese company.
