What you need to know
- K. Mirza LLC, a patent licensing company, says Samsung has taken the feature of determining how much battery you have left on your phone from a Dutch research institute.
- The feature uses an algorithm to determine how much battery remains on your phone.
- Google could face the same charge as it uses this feature in its Pixel series.
Samsung has been sued over a patent-related issue that involves Android OS being able to predict how long your phone's battery will last before it turns off.
K. Mirza LLC, a patent licensing company, filed the lawsuit on May 20 and claims that the pre-installed Android-based feature was actually developed by a Dutch research institute called Nederlandse Organisatie voor Togepast Natuurwetenschappelijk Onderzoe (TNO).
K. Mirza states that the feature enables "a sophisticated on-the-fly prediction of the remaining battery life of a mobile device such as a smartphone."
"The prediction is based on algorithms that analyze user behavior. Deriving the remaining battery life by analyzing user behavior is more precise than, for example, the manufacturer conducting a lot of time-consuming tests during product development," the filing states. K. Mizra believes that "Samsung mobile devices using younger versions of the Android OS infringes the German designation" of this patent.
It's worth noting that Samsung isn't the only company that uses this type of technology. In fact, so does Xiaomi, and Google in its Pixel series phones, which are considered some of the best Android devices. However, the lawsuit states that it's targeting devices using "younger versions" of Android, meaning newer Android devices running the latest software may not be affected.
Android Central reached out to Samsung for a statement but did not get one in time for publication. Depending on how the lawsuit goes, there could be grave implications for Samsung, but also for other companies that likely are using this similar technology.
