Korean startup First Face wins against US giant Apple over patents and content startup OGQ may acquire leading stock content company Getty Images. Korean Institute of Startup & Entrepreneurship and Turkish Presidency Investment Office sign MoU to boost investment and enable mutual startup support. COMEUP 2021 opens pre-registrations for entrepreneurs, investors and visitors. Socar Mobility Malaysia, a unit of Korean car-sharing unicorn startup Socar, attracts new funding.
South Korean Startup Wins Another Case against Apple
Source: Business Korea
The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) maintained on Sept. 13 the ruling of the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) that two out of First Face’s three patents are valid. First Face filed a patent infringement lawsuit regarding the three patents against Apple in July last year, the PTAB ruled so, and then Apple lodged an inter partes review appeal with the CAFC.
First Face is a South Korean startup that has researched and developed user and computer interfaces since 2011. It currently has about 50 registered user authentication and lock screen advertising patents in South Korea, the United States, China, Japan and Europe.
The litigation between First Face and Apple dates back to April 2018, when the former filed a patent infringement lawsuit regarding the three patents with the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. At that time, First Face claimed that the touch ID technology of the iPhone 5S, fifth-generation iPad and so on is in violation of its U.S. patents. Apple brought the case to the PTAB in January 2019.
Korea content platform startup to buy Getty Images unit
Source: The Korea Economic Daily
South Korean content platform startup OGQ Corp. is set to take over the world’s leading stock content company Getty Images Inc.’s unit in the country.
OGQ is known to be in talks over details on the deal’s conditions, while working to raise 50 billion won ($42.6 million) for the deal, said the investment banking (IB) industry sources on Sept. 12. The startup plans to become a major shareholder of Getty Images Korea, a 50-50 joint venture set up in 2017 by Getty Images International and Imazins, a subsidiary of South Korea’s IT-to-finance conglomerate Daou Kiwom Group.
OGQ is expected to utilize vast contents owned by Getty Images Korea and improve its financial structure through the acquisition. Getty Images Korea has been maintaining an annual operating profit of around 1 billion won and a revenue of some 10 billion won. Last year, it reported 1.7 billion in an operating profit with a 13.6 billion won revenue.
Online pre-registration for Startup Festival ‘Come Up 2021’ begins
Source: Platum
The Ministry of SMEs and Startups and the Comeup Organizing Committee start online pre-registration for ‘ COMEUP 2021 ‘. Entrepreneurs and investors, including those involved in the startup ecosystem, and general visitors wishing to participate in ‘Come Up’, can apply for a one-month pre-registration from September 16 (Thu) to October 15 (Fri).
The online ‘pre-registration’ through the COMEUP website is to comply with the quarantine guidelines for the ‘advance reservation system’ applied to exhibitions and exhibitions among the government’s strengthened social distancing quarantine measures. This year’s COMEUP will be held at Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP) for three days from November 17 (Wed) to 19 (Fri), a conference that looks at the future of startups, and offline-oriented communication and exchange such as biz matching between startups and investors.
Korean Institute of Startup & Entrepreneurship Development and Turkish Presidency’s Investment Office ink MOU to boost investment and enable mutual startup support https://t.co/HQDmEaH6Jj #korea #startupkorea #koreatech #startupnews
— WK Wright // Startup News Asia (@wadekwright) September 16, 2021
Socar Mobility Malaysia gets new funding
Source: KoreaJoongangDaily
Socar Mobility Malaysia, the No. 1 car-sharing company in Malaysia, attracted 65 billion won in investment to fund its growth in Southeast Asia. Socar Mobility Malaysia, a unit of Korean car-sharing startup Socar that is 79 percent owned by SK Inc., got the funding from global private equity fund East Bridge Partners and multinational company Sime Darby, SK Inc. said Thursday.
“Through the latest investment as well as diverse partnerships, Socar Malaysia is expected to fortify its platform competitiveness,” said Shin Jung-ho, head of SK’s digital investment center. Socar Mobility Malaysia, which launched in 2018, has more than 1 million subscribers and controls more than 90 percent of local market share, according to the company. It launched a service in Indonesia in Dec. 2020 and attracted 100,000 subscribers in six months, the company said.
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