Samsung Wins Lawsuit Over Galaxy 'S10' Trademark Rights: All Details

The jury found that Galaxy S10 phones do not violate the trademark rights of a talent-management agency that also uses the "S10" name.

By Reuters | Updated: 21 March 2023 10:37 IST

Samsung Wins Lawsuit Over Galaxy 'S10' Trademark Rights: All Details

Photo Credit: Samsung

Samsung started offering Galaxy S10 smartphones in 2019

Highlights

S10 entertainment argued Samsung's advertising would confuse customers
Samsung's use of a similar font and color scheme was cited
Samsung staked claim based on its earlier Galaxy S "family" of marks

Samsung convinced a Los Angeles federal jury on Friday that its Galaxy S10 phones do not violate the trademark rights of a talent-management agency that also uses the "S10" name.

The jury found that S10 Entertainment & Media had not shown that Samsung's popular smartphones were likely to cause consumer confusion and drown out its brand in the marketplace, according to a court document published Monday.

Representatives for Samsung and S10 did not immediately respond to requests for comment Monday.

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S10 Entertainment, which manages the pop singers Anitta and Normani, said it began using the S10 name in 2017. Samsung began selling its Galaxy S-series smartphones in 2010 and started offering Galaxy S10 phones in 2019.

S10 argued Samsung's advertising would confuse customers into thinking the brands were affiliated, citing Samsung's use of a similar font and color scheme as the talent agency for its S10 logo and its promotional partnerships with musicians.

The lawsuit said S10 had received social-media messages from people trying to buy Samsung's phones. It also said Samsung was aware of the company before adopting the branding, and that Samsung and S10 had discussed a potential deal for Anitta to endorse the tech giant.

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"As a result of confusion between Samsung's S10 phone line and S10 Entertainment's S10 mark, the value and goodwill of S10 Entertainment's Instagram and social media footprint has been severely diminished," the lawsuit said.

Samsung told the court that its use of "S10" would not cause confusion, that it had priority to the S10 name based on its earlier Galaxy S "family" of marks, and that S10 waited too long to bring the lawsuit.

© Thomson Reuters 2023

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Samsung Galaxy S10

REVIEW
KEY SPECS
NEWS
Variants

Design
Display
Software
Performance
Battery Life
Camera
Value for Money

Good
Sturdy and compact
Very good cameras
Powerful SoC

Bad
Gets warm under heavy load
Hole-punch design might not appeal to everyone

Read detailed Samsung Galaxy S10 review

Display 6.10-inch

Processor Samsung Exynos 9820

Front Camera 10-megapixel

Rear Camera 12-megapixel + 12-megapixel + 16-megapixel

RAM 8GB

Storage 128GB

Battery Capacity 3400mAh

OS Android 9.0

More Samsung mobiles Samsung mobiles price in India

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