Samsung-Dyson Suit Over Vacuum Clear Ends in Arbitration

The British firm initiated the patent infringement suit through the High Court in England in September 2013 and again filed a similar compensation lawsuit following Samsung’s suit. (image credit: Robert Scarth/Flickr)

SEOUL, April 19 (Korea Bizwire) – Samsung Electronics Co.’s lawsuit against British manufacturer Dyson in a patent row over a vacuum cleaner mechanism has been withdrawn from a Seoul court after the two firms resolved the dispute through arbitration, court officials said Tuesday.

The South Korean tech giant filed the suit against the British firm with the Seoul Central District Court in February 2014, seeking 10 billion won (US$9.43 million) in compensation over the alleged patent infringement.

Samsung’s legal action was seen as a counteraction to the British firm’s earlier suit that accused the South Korean company of violating its patents on a mechanism used in its vacuum cleaners that allows users to swiftly change direction without their machines flipping or snagging.

The British firm initiated the patent infringement suit through the High Court in England in September 2013 and again filed a similar compensation lawsuit following Samsung’s suit.

Under the agreement reached by the two sides, Dyson will withdraw its lawsuits within 30 days and will not pursue a similar lawsuit in the future, the officials said.

Also, Dyson will pay out the litigation costs to Samsung Electronics, the officials said, adding that it will withdraw its patent rights from the European Patent Office.

“It is meaningful that the two sides agreed to end the row instantly through the arbitration process in the Republic of Korea (South Korea),” said a court official on the customary condition of anonymity.

Samsung released its Motion Sync vacuum cleaners in the summer of 2013 and immediately won over the local market. The company’s domestic market share jumped to 75 percent from just 18 percent in the first four months of the vacuum cleaner’s release.

(Yonhap)