Goodix sues Egis Technology for alleged in-display fingerprint sensor patent infringement

Goodix has filed a patent infringement complaint against Egis Technology with the Beijing Intellectual Property Court, alleging EgisTec has used protected intellectual property covering key technologies which are important to essential features and functions of in-display fingerprint sensor technology.

In addition to halting EgisTec’s alleged use of its intellectual property, Goodix is seeking ¥50.5 million (US$7.35 million) in compensation, plus legal costs. Goodix says its optical in-display fingerprint sensor was developed through five years of work by a dedicated R&D team of more than 400 employees.

The technology has been integrated in 52 smartphone models so far, according to the announcement.

In-display fingerprint sensor technology makes up more than 760 filings and 50 issued patents, among Goodix’ 3,300 filings and 480 issued patents, as of June, 2019. The company says its efforts were “stolen by a competitor,” and called the alleged infringement “disrespectful” and “vandalism of the market order.”

Goodix has taken a leadership position in the in-display fingerprint sensor market with fast optical sensing and a string of implementations, while EgisTec supplies the Samsung Galaxy A70 and other smartphone models.

Fingerprint Cards filed a suit against Goodix alleging capacitive fingerprint technology patent infringement last year. Goodix is the leader of the market for both capacitive and optical fingerprint sensors by volume, while FPC ranked second in capacitive, and EgisTec ranked fourth.

Article Topics

biometrics  |  China  |  Egis Technology  |  fingerprint sensors  |  Goodix  |  lawsuit  |  patents  |  research and development