If there’s one thing Dyson seems to be really good at, apart from selling plastic vacuum cleaners for top dollar, it’s suing people when they step out of line and this time it’s Samsungs turn for ripping off a Dyson patent.
Dyson claims that the vac infringes its patent it holds on a steering mechanism used in cylinder cleaners.
Samsung has said it had no comment on the matter, which is hardly a shock.
Dyson has issued proceedings in the High Court in England, but has not said whether it wished to block the sale of Samsung’s product or impose a licence fee.
“This looks like a cynical rip-off,” said Sir James Dyson, “Samsung has many patent lawyers so I find it hard not to believe that this is a deliberate or utterly reckless infringement of our patent.
“We have been forced to issue proceedings in the English High Court, but I would much rather invest in research to develop new technology than have to sue.”
Dyson first filed a patent for its steering mechanism in 2009. The patent describes a way to allow the cleaner to spin quickly from one direction to another on the spot, and to follow the user’s path rather than just being dragged behind, in order to prevent the vacuum getting snagged on corners.
It said the system took three years to develop and has since been used in two of its models.
Samsung’s marketing materials for its new vacuum cleaner specifically highlight the “revolutionary” design of its swivel body machine saying it “makes swift motion for sudden turns much easier”.
This is not the first time the two firms have clashed in the UK courts.
In February 2009 a judge ordered Samsung to pay Dyson about £600,000 after it tried to patent the British firm’s existing “triple-cyclone” suction technology.
Dyson has also sued Hoover, Vax and Bosch in the past to protect its technologies as well as spares suppliers over “pattern” spare parts.