Samsung, LG turned down by U.S. patent office for QNED trademark registration

Samsung and LG were not able to register the QNED trademark at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Based on the documents, the South Korean electronics companies were both rejected by the patent office when they tried to register.

The filing of patent and why it was refused

The Korea Times reported that the USPTO informed Samsung Display on Feb. 25 that its registration for the "QNED" trademark was denied. The office explained that it was turned down as the mark simply “describes an important feature and characteristic of the applicant's goods."

It was disclosed that Samsung Display applied for the QNED trademark in September 2020, and apparently, it took almost half a year before the patent office released its decision. It turned out that it was not just Samsung that applied for the same patent, but LG Electronics also did.

LG was notified about the rejection of its application earlier than Samsung. The notice came in January, and the reason for the denied registration was the same, that QNED is "merely descriptive."

Can LG or Samsung use the QNED label?

The U.S. patent office said that Samsung could use the name, but a disclaimer should be added stating that it has no claim to the exclusive right to use the QNED mark. Moreover, since LG also applied for the same patent, the U.S. authority informed the companies that if either company registers, their own mark may be denied because it could cause confusion with the registered patent.

In any case, QNED stands for Quantum Nano-Emitting Diode, and Samsung and LG are feuding over what they will name their next-generation display technology. It seems that while they are in dispute, no one can claim the name instead.

Meanwhile, Business Korea reported that LG also applied for the QNED trademark patent in South Korea, Europe, and Australia, and Samsung also did. The U.S. was the first to release a result after a review of their applications, and the other countries are still reviewing the companies’ filings.

LG is ahead in other trademark applications for NQED and QNLED, which are all for the display panels on mobile devices and TVs. Finally, the USPTO stated that LG can still reapply for the patent if it wishes to. The reapplication can be done after six months, and the company needs to add supplemental documents so it can attain the patent trademark it is after.