Kyocera Corporation (Kyoto) reported that its patent infringement case filed in 2018 against German automotive supplier Preh GmbH reached settlement in Germany. The resolution leads to an amicable licensing agreement over the haptic feedback technology for touchscreens.
Kyocera developed the haptic feedback technology, which enables a screen to vibrate and give the sensation of a button being pushed, with research institution Keio University (Tokyo) back in 2008, and registered patent claims for it around 2014-2015 [2]. Kyocera then found Preh using the same kind of technology and urged it to sign a licensing agreement. Preh refused, so Kyocera filed against Preh in the Düsseldorf Regional Court last year, claiming one of its patents was being infringed. Preh responded with a request for annulment of the lawsuit, but further negotiations led to an amicable resolution, Kyocera reports [1].
With the proliferation of information and innovation, licensing can be a vital and productive means of growth, hopefully a win-win situation for Preh and Kyocera.
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Taro Yaguchi
Sources
[1] Kyocera Germany, “Kyocera Resolves Patent Disputes with Preh GmbH for Haptic Feedback Technology,” https://global.kyocera.com/news/2019/0903_shoi.html, September 4, 2019, accessed September 12, 2019.
[2] Nikkei Shimbun, “京セラ、独部品大手と和解 タッチパネル技術で [Kyocera settles with major German parts company over touchscreen technology],” https://www.nikkei.com/article/DGXMZO49409710U9A900C1916M00/, September 4, 2019, accessed September 12, 2019.
