It is reported from foreign media today that the Russian court rules have rejected a request by a Swiss financial services company to ban Samsung Electronics from importing and selling smartphones in Russia, the court thereby rules in favor of Samsung to continue selling smartphones in the country.
Recall that last year, SQWIN SA, a Neuchatel, Switzerland-based financial services and mobile payments firm, filed a patent case against Samsung Electronics’ Samsung Pay system for importing and selling 61 smartphones in Russia.
Samsung Pay, according to the Swiss company, infringes on a Russian-registered patent for an electronic payment system. In October, a Russian court ruled that Samsung Electronics may not import or sell 61 cellphones in the country. However, due to Samsung’s appeal, the ban was not implemented.
The Swiss company then sought interim court measures to bar Samsung from importing and selling the 61 smartphone models in Russia.
The prohibition was overturned by the Moscow Arbitration Court on January 27, after SQWIN SA failed to show that Samsung behaved in bad faith.
In essence, any Galaxy phone that accepts Samsung Pay was technically subject to a nationwide ban. Samsung was fortunate in that it had the ability to appeal the ruling. SQWIN SA’s claim was dismissed on January 31, 2022, by the Moscow Arbitration Court, which decided that the firm had failed to show that Samsung had behaved in bad faith.
According to a Samsung legal counsel quoted by Lawer Monthly, SQWIN SA was unable to show in court that it had attempted to monetize the technologies specified in its patent.
In short, this was yet another failed patent troll attempt, and the good news is that Samsung can continue selling phones in Russia without jeopardizing its mobile business, including the 61 smartphones, which include both high-end phones like the Galaxy Z Flip series and low-end models like the Galaxy J5.
