Samsung Display, China’s BOE settle OLED patent and trade secret lawsuits

Samsung Display and China’s BOE Technology have reached a settlement to resolve a three-year legal dispute involving OLED technology patents and trade secret allegations. The companies agreed to withdraw all pending lawsuits, emphasizing the importance of fair technological competition for the advancement of the display industry. The dispute included Samsung’s December 2022 complaint to the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) accusing BOE of patent infringement, followed by an October 2023 lawsuit alleging BOE stole trade secrets by recruiting Samsung employees to access confidential OLED manufacturing processes. A preliminary ITC ruling in July 2025 found BOE had misappropriated Samsung’s OLED trade secrets. This settlement ends a significant conflict between two major suppliers of OLED panels used in Apple devices, avoiding potential consequences such as a U.S. export ban that would have severely impacted BOE, one of the world’s largest display panel manufacturers. The case highlights broader concerns over intellectual property theft in the tech industry, exemplified by a 2024 South Korean