Taiwan firm sues Samsung for patent infringement

A Taiwanese electronics company said Wednesday it has filed a lawsuit against South Korean tech giant Samsung for allegedly infringing on its optics technology patents. Largan Precision Co. is a leading designer and manufacturer for plastic aspherical lenses used in mobile phones, notebook computers, automobiles and digital cameras, and is reportedly a part supplier for Samsung and Apple's iPhone 5s. The lawsuit has been filed to the US District Court for the Southern District of California over "several" Samsung products that allegedly infringed on its lens design patents, Largan said in a statement. Largan did not identify the Samsung products in question. Taiwan's Commercial Times cited unnamed sources as saying that the company accused Samsung of violating six of its optics lens patents to be used in the Galaxy Note II phablet smartphones. Technology giants have taken to routinely pounding one another with patent lawsuits. Samsung and Apple have been locked in several cases around the world. Samsung has dethroned its California-based rival to become the world's top smartphone maker. In the third quarter, Samsung increased its market share by nearly half a percentage point to 31.4 percent, while Apple's share slipped to 13.1 percent from 14.4 percent a year ago, according to the IDC survey.