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A patent licensing company named K. Mizra LLC has filed a lawsuit against Samsung in Germany over a patent pertaining to battery life predictions on phones. K. Mizra defines this as “a sophisticated on-the-fly prediction of the remaining battery life of a mobile device such as a smartphone.”
This lawsuit against Samsung could spell legal trouble for other Android OEMs
“The prediction is based on algorithms that analyze user behavior. Deriving the remaining battery life by analyzing user behavior is more precise than, for example, the manufacturer conducting a lot of time-consuming tests during product development,” K. Mizra said on its website (via Android Central).
As per the patent licensing company, the feature belongs to an independent Dutch research institute known as the Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research (TNO). K. Mizra alleges that Samsung’s smartphones infringe on the German version of this patent.
The lawsuit adds, however, that it primarily targets “younger versions” of Android, likely referencing older versions of Google’s operating system. This, in turn, suggests that newer Android devices are unlikely to be impacted, including the recently released Galaxy S22 series.
Almost every modern-day Android smartphone offers battery life predictions in some form or another. So this could open up a new wave of trouble for other Android OEMs, including the likes of Google. Samsung hasn’t commented on the lawsuit. But given that the lawsuit was filed on the 20th of May, the company is certainly aware of the development.
Legal trouble is not particularly new for the South Korean manufacturer. Samsung is currently in trouble with the Brazilian Ministry of Justice over the omission of charging adapters with its new smartphones. Foregoing the charging adapter has been an industry-wide phenomenon under the guise of saving the environment. But consumer groups in Brazil see this issue differently.
Samsung decided to include a charging brick with the Galaxy A53 5G in Brazil
PROCON, one of Brazil’s primary consumer protection agencies has already taken up companies like Samsung and Apple over the issue. Apple has seemingly paid the local equivalent of $2.11 million in fines to the PROCON group in Sao Paolo.
Samsung has since made some adjustments to appease the regulators. While the global versions of the Galaxy A53 5G don’t come with a charging brick, the model in Brazil, does. However, the Galaxy S21 and S22 series in Brazil do not include a charging adapter.