SEATTLE – Last week, a federal judge denied a motion for summary judgment filed by Samsung and LG against Hagens Berman’s client in two patent cases pending in Delaware, in which the defendants had sought a ruling invalidating the patent in suit. The complaints in the two cases, filed by Hagens Berman on behalf of FlatWorld Interactives LLC, allege that the defendants’ smart phones and tablets infringe a patent covering the use of certain finger gestures on touchscreen devices. The judge’s order moves the case closer to trial.

Hagens Berman managing partner, Steve Berman, was quoted in The AmLaw Litigation Daily saying, “We won the most important claim construction issues,” adding that he is “quite pleased” with the judge’s ruling.

FlatWorld, a company specializing in commercialization of touchscreen technology, was founded by Dr. Slavko Milekic, a Professor of Cognitive Science & Digital Design at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. According to the complaint, Professor Milekic developed gesture recognition touch screens for use by children as an easier and more intuitive means of interacting with a computer.

The lawsuits allege that a number of Samsung and LG devices infringe U.S. Patent No. RE 43,318, entitled User Interface for Removing an Object From a Display, which is owned by FlatWorld. Devices in question include Samsung’s Android-based smartphones and tablets, as well as its Samsung Galaxy media player, and LG’s smartphones and tablets, including the Optimus, Elite, Viper, Lucid, Nitro, Spectrum, Marquee, Ignite, myTouch, DoublePlay, Esteem, Enlighten, Thrill, Revolution, Genesis, G2X, Thrive, Phoenix, Axis, Apex, Vortex, Ally and T-Mobile G-Slate.

The patent allegedly covers the use of certain finger gestures commonly used on these devices, including a “flick” of the finger used to remove images from the display.

FlatWorld seeks a ruling from the court affirming that Samsung and LG have infringed the patent, an injunction enjoining the defendants from continued infringement, and an award of damages to compensate FlatWorld for the defendants’ unauthorized use of the patented invention.

Additional information about Hagens Berman’s case against LG and Samsung can be found at/cases/lg-electronics and /cases/samsung, respectively.