After reading some articles about it, especially
Apple, Amazon, Samsung Targeted in Boston
University Patent Suits
it appears to me that
1) BU has a couple of
patents on LED manufacturing technology that they have licensed to some
manufacturers of LEDs
2) Samsung has declined to license the patents
3)
BU is trying to put pressure on Samsung by suing Samsung's customers over the
patents.
BU can sue Samsung's customers and the further downstream customers
because Samsung didn't take a license, therefore there is no patent
exhaustion.
This puts pressure on Samsung in two ways: Samsung's customers
may be inclined to buy LEDs from a manufacturer who has licensed the patents;
And Samsung's customers may put pressure on Samsung to get the matter resolved,
perhaps by Samsung paying for the license instead of fighting in the courts.
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