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The Comparison between Apple and Samsungs Patent Portfolios

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The Comparison between Apple and Samsungs Patent Portfolios



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The Comparison between Apple and Samsungs Patent Portfolios
Introduction

In April 2011, Apple filed patent lawsuits against Samsung for infringement on a
number of Apples technology patents and design rights. The legal tussle
between Apple and Samsung continues to evolve. In August, the US District
Court in San Jose awarded Apple more than $1billion in compensation after
concluding that Samsung had infringed on Apples patents (six of them) including
design rights of its mobile devices.

Apple won the patent infringement lawsuit against Samsung in US, but lost in
Korea, Japan, and UK. Apple and Samsung have been involved in more than 50
lawsuits around the world, with billions of dollars in damages claimed between
both companies.

WIPS analyzed both Samsung and Apples patent portfolios with its online patent
search engine, WIPS Global Advanced (WGA). WGA allows one to take a closer
look at both companies patent possessions and strategies.

[Figure 1] Company Search Result of WIPS Global Advanced (WGA)



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The Comparison between Apple and Samsungs Patent Portfolios

The Methodology of Patent Portfolio Analysis

WGA company search feature was used to identify Samsung and Apples patent
status during the last 10 year period from 2002 to 2011, strategies of securing
patents, concentrated technology area, and open innovation strategies.

Subject Analysis
Company Application Period Patent Status Number of Pate
nt Application
Samsung Jan 1st, 2002 to Dec 31
st
2011
(10 Year period)
Korean Application 94,293
Apple US Application 5,205

In general, companies file international applications after filing the domestic
applications because general patent system follows the respective territorial
precedent local filing principle. For this reason, the analysis used the number
of domestic applications as an indicator, which means identifying domestic patent
application activities in a specific year to understand the competitors patent
application activity.

Through the joint application and patent assignee information, both Samsung
and Apples patent transactions are analyzed. The analysis also took into
consideration both companies technology patent purchasing strategies based on
WGAs US patent assignee/ assignment information.
Main Analysis
Samsung and Apples patent application activities for the last ten years (2002
to 2011)
Samsung and Apples recent technology areas of focus
Samsung and Apples patent transaction activities; such as, joint patent
applications and patent purchasing activities



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The Comparison between Apple and Samsungs Patent Portfolios
Patent Application Status of Samsung and Apple

The number of national (Korea) patent applications of Samsung was 94,293, and the
number of national (US) patent applications of Apple was 5,205 between the year 2002
and 2011. Quantitatively, Samsung applied 18 times more patents than Apple did.

The R&D investment of Samsung has been increased from 2.7 billion dollars
(2002) to 9 billion dollars (2011). The amount shows that the R&D investment of
Samsung has increased to 15% per year until it reached the peak point in 2005,
following a decreasing trend thereafter. Samsungs international application rate
has constantly increased between the year 2002 and 2010 from 30% to
80%. Samsung was putting a great deal of effort into securing international
patents during that period.

Apple is actively filing patent applications in order to increase the number of its
existing patent size. Apple has been trying to expand its patent portfolio
quantitatively after the patent trial loss battle against Microsoft in 2005.
SAMSUNG APPLE


<R&D Investment versus Patent Application Trend>


<Domestic Patent Application versus Patent Family ratio Trend>
[Figure 2] Samsung versus Apple: Yearly Patent Application Status



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The Comparison between Apple and Samsungs Patent Portfolios

The Technological Strategies of Samsung and Apple

To see how both companies patent strategies have been changing, comparison
was made with both companies patent application status during 2002 to 2006
and 2007 to 2011 (Figure 3). The result showed that Samsungs patent application
has been increasing sharply in the field of Wireless Communication Networks (IPC
code: H04W), whereas similar uptrend can be seen in Apples Touch-Screen
Display and Icons (including User Interface technology) patent application
(Locarno Classification 14-04).

Samsung filed a total of 1,142 cases of patent application in the field of Wireless
Communication Networks during the last ten-years. During 2007 to 2011, the
number of Wireless Communication Networks patent applications was nearly 14
times more than during 2002 to 2006. It is a radical growth size in this field
compared to Samsungs semiconductor technology.

Samsung semiconductor technology is the main business activity of Samsung, but
its patent application has decreased by 74% during the year 2002 to 2006.
Instead of the Semiconductor area, Samsungs mobile patent applications field;
such as Wireless Communication Networks (3G LTE), Near Field Communication
(WIFI), and Cellular Phone Web Browsing Technology (WAP), have increased
during those 5 years. It is also worth noting that fields such as Fuel Cell, Robot,
Image Processing, and Nanotechnologies have also increased rapidly. These
technologies are highly related to Samsungs top five future business activities,
namely Solar Cell, Automobile, Battery, LED, Bio-medicine, and Medical Devices
applications.

In contrast, Apple has been concentrating on securing design patent rights after
launching i-Phone. Apple applied 99 cases of patents related to screen displays
and icon design field (Locarno Classification 14-04) and 186 cases of patents
relating to data processing equipment as well as peripheral apparatus and
devices design field (Locarno Classification 14-02) for the last ten years. It is


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The Comparison between Apple and Samsungs Patent Portfolios
worth noting that the design patent including UI parts has increased 9 times
during 2007 to 2011 than 2002 to 2006.

SAMSUNG APPLE


[Figure 3] Classified Patent Application status by Technology fields

Samsung and Apple have shown some differences in open innovation strategies
(Figure 4). Samsungs joint patent application rate is only 4% among entire
patent application portfolio. Samsungs joint application or joint research status
was mainly with domestic universities and public organizations whereas Apples
joint application is less than 1% of its portfolio; which is a fraction comparing
with Samsung respectively.


[Figure 4] Samsungs joint application trend

Patent assignment activity shows that Samsung assigned 1 million cases of US patent
in last 10 years. Figure 5 shows that purchased patents are mainly related to Mass



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The Comparison between Apple and Samsungs Patent Portfolios

Storage Device, Visual Display System, and Semiconductor field. Figure 5 shows
Samsung mainly acquired patents from HP, AST Res., Xerox, Honeywell, and Hitachi.

On the other hand, Apple assigned approximately 2,600 patents during the past 10
years. Although the number of assigned patents is not as high as Samsungs, it
comprises a large proportion of entire Apples patent portfolio: 50% of the Apples
entire patent applications and 30% of Apples patent portfolio. Most Apples
assigned patents are transferred from Object Tech Licensing Corp., Taligent Inc.,
Intrinsity Inc., and P.A., SEMI. Apple also purchased patents from mobile specialized
NPEs (Non-Practicing Entity) and CVON Innovations Ltd. (Figure 6). Apple is securing
its patents and technologies through various routes.

SAMSUNG APPLE

[Figure 5] Main Technology Fields Assigned Patents: Samsung and Apple

SAMSUNG APPLE


[Figure 6] Main source of assignment: Samsung and Apple


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The Comparison between Apple and Samsungs Patent Portfolios
Conclusion

This report provides an insight of the overall technology strategies and strategic
patent reserves of both companies based on their patent application procedure using
WIPS Global Advanced (WGA), the premium online patent search engine, over the
last ten years.

Samsung has been reducing the domestic patent applications and securing
international patent applications. Apple is seen improving its inadequate existing
patent portfolios by expanding the number of patents. In addition, Apple is
strengthening technology portfolios by using corporate transactions; such as, M&A,
joint ventures, and minority investments.

It is worth to monitor the competing situations between Samsung and Apple in the
field of wireless network technologies because both companies have increased the
patent filling rate significantly. The analysis also shows both companies fields of
concentration during 2007 to 2011; Samsung has focused on fuel cell, Bio-medicine,
LED, and medical devices, and Apple has focused on design related patents such as
UI respectively.

With analysis based on WGA search result, we can conclude that Samsung will
improve its design and UI related technological investments; and Apple will try to
secure more wireless network technologies Intellectual Property rights to
supplement its technological vulnerability.