On October 21, 2021, the Moscow Arbitration Court banned Samsung Electronics and its Russian representative office from selling and storing 61 models of Samsung smartphones in Russia.
The court banned the import into the territory of Russia, the offer for sale, sale, and storage for these purposes of devices designed to use the Samsung Pay payment service, during the operation (operation) of which, in accordance with their purpose, a patented method is automatically carried out, protected as an invention under a patent of the Russian Federation No. 2686003 “Electronic Payment System”. This patent, registered in 2019, belongs to the Swiss company Sqwin SA, and Viktor Gulchenko is indicated as the author.
The ban included 61 models of Samsung smartphones, including Galaxy Z Flip and Galaxy Z Fold, Galaxy S21. Among the devices presented on the official website of the manufacturer, only a few models of the Galaxy M series, as well as the Galaxy J2 and J2 core models, the Galaxy A series are not mentioned in the court’s decision.
This court decision has not yet entered into force, Samsung has a month to file an appeal.
It is worth noting that Google Pay and Apple Pay are also potentially under threat of ban due to infringement of the same Russian patent.