A Russian court has banned Samsung from importing and selling 61 phones in Russia due to copyright infringement issues related to the Samsung Pay digital payment system.
This started with a lawsuit by Swiss company SQWIN SA which claimed that Samsung Pay infringed on its electronic payment system patent which was registered in Russia.
SQWIN SA registered its patent in Russia almost eight years ago. Meanwhile, the South Korean company introduced Samsung Pay in 2015 and launched it in Russia towards the end of 2016.
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Samsung Pay turns out to be one of the most popular contactless payment systems in Russia. Samsung Pay is in third place with 17% market share, trailing Google Pay in first place (32%) and Apple Pay in second (30%).
Currently SQWIN SA's lawsuit targets only Samsung. But according to legal observers, Apple and Google are also potentially exposed to the sap.
The original court ruling, set on 27 July 2021, upheld SQWIN SA's claim but did not list the phones to be blocked. SQWIN SA then filed an appeal in August.
In a subsequent court ruling on October 19, the Russian Court of Arbitration later disclosed a list of 61 Samsung phones that are prohibited from being imported and sold in Russia.
The rows of phones included in the list range from the latest folding screen phones, the Samsung Galaxy Fold 3 and Galaxy Z Flip 3, to older phones such as the Galaxy J5, which was launched in 2017, as quoted from Phone Arena, Sunday (24/10/2021). .
A Samsung representative said it had appealed and declined to comment further. At this time, the court's decision has not yet taken effect.
Based on data from Counterpoint Research, Samsung is the second largest mobile phone vendor in Russia with a market share of 29.9% in the first quarter of 2021. In the first place is Xiaomi with a market share of 31%.