Samsung acquires 'Android' trademark for mobile hardware sales in Korea
By Vlad Savov 
posted March 16th 2010 11:26AM
posted March 16th 2010 11:26AM
As it turns out, Korea operates two separate trademark systems for hardware and software. So while this doesn't affect Android OS and its distribution, Samsung's recent acquisition of the Android hardware trademark does forbid other manufacturers from releasing Android-branded devices -- whether they be a mobile phone, a PMP, PDA, GPS, DMB, or any other snappily titled mobile computer -- into the Korean market. This will be felt by local competitors like LG, who has an Andro-1 OEM handset in the works that would infringe Samsung's newfound rights. The trademark previously belonged to local supplier Triplex, who'd held it since before Google's OS came into being, and apparently using just four characters of "Android" will be sufficient to offend the authorities. Sammy's clearly decided to aggressively pursue being the premier supplier of Android phones in its backyard, and rubbing LG's nose in it must've been the chocolate frosting atop that eclair.[Thanks for the translation, Didier]
@scott5626
Galaxy S has better hardware than the oh so praised EVO. Also, Samsung is the world's leading memory producer, and their hummingbird processor is the fastest cpu for mobile phones released to consumers (well, soon it is). Not to mention their awesome screens.
Their software on the other hand.
Wow, that is crazy. How can you take an open-source OS and trademark it in another country, for real Samsung, you get an F for that.
@1ofdakoolkidz Read the damn blog slowly this time. Geez.
@1ofdakoolkidz
Reading Comprehension 101 FAIL.
@bullshitexpresscom Maybe you should read what I wrote again and read the article yourself.
"Samsung's recent acquisition of the Android hardware trademark does forbid other manufacturers from releasing Android-branded devices -- whether they be a mobile phone, a PMP, PDA, GPS, DMB, or any other snappily titled mobile computer -- into the Korean market." My point is that "Android is the concept of Opensource, so how can someone start trademarking Android based tech from entering into another country, whether it be software or hardware under that premise.
Well this is either going to end really good(for me at least) or really bad for a lot of people. The good side is that since I already own a Samsung Moment, see the phone image in the article, a heavy Android push by Samsung could mean they keep that model up to date with all the latest Android hotness. This seems like the unlikely, overly hopeful route. The other side would be Samsung stake is Android hardware claim and they uses it to kick other Korean handset makers out of the Android market and we all suffer a little. Why do I see this ending as option #2.
Eclair... I see what you did there.
LG should trademark the world "PHONE" and fuck Samsung over or any other words like "Mobile", "Cell", or "Sung" if they could. Trademark "Android" is just a sleazy business strategy.
This is absolutely ridiculous.
I dont see the problem here. LG would simply market their product as the LG running Android OS. simple as that.
Hopefully this means Samsung will come out with a phone that can compete with the Droid or anything HTC is doing, because nothing they've do so far is at either level in my opinion.
Koreans created the universe, including the name Android.
That's not fair trade! Thats a very protectionist move and Korea is known to be a very nationalist country. They are basically forcing everyone living in Korea to buy Samsung if they want Android. And remember how long it took the iPhone to enter the Korean market?