By Blake Brittain
Sept 1 (Reuters) – Chinese consumer electronics company TCL sued South Korea’s Samsung in Los Angeles federal court, accusing its rival of falsely advertising some televisions as using “Mini LED” technology.
The lawsuit, filed on Monday, alleges Samsung falsely marketed its M Model televisions as featuring the technology, which is designed to improve picture quality.
Samsung “took a cheap, non-Mini LED model from a recycled product line and peddled it to the public as a ‘supreme’ Mini LED model at an attractive price point,” TCL said.
Samsung said in a statement on Tuesday that it intends to vigorously defend itself against the lawsuit and stands “fully behind the quality and accuracy of our product descriptions.”
“Samsung’s false advertising misled consumers who wanted the higher picture quality associated with Mini LED televisions into buying Samsung’s falsely labeled product, unfairly damaging TCL’s sales, goodwill, and valuable technology in the process,” TCL attorney R.C. Harlan said in a statement.
TCL’s lawsuit said that the Mini LED technology in its televisions delivers “substantially better picture with greater dynamic range and higher contrast ratios.” The company said it overtook Samsung in U.S. Mini LED television sales between 2023 and 2025 because Samsung failed to develop Mini LED televisions at a competitive price.
TCL said Samsung launched its M Model televisions in March at prices below TCL’s cheapest Mini LED televisions and advertised them as featuring Mini LED technology. But the lawsuit alleges that M Model televisions “contain none of the technological advancements associated with Mini LED technology” and are recycled from Samsung’s standard LED televisions.
“This age-old tale of corporate greed proved successful, as Samsung’s sham products stole back TCL’s hard-won market share,” TCL said.
TCL asked the court for an order blocking Samsung’s “Mini LED” technology and an unspecified amount of monetary damages.
(Reporting by Blake Brittain in Washington; Editing by Mark Potter and Bill Berkrot)
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