You know a gadget category is starting to go mainstream when patent lawsuits start cropping up. Today, Xreal filed a lawsuit in the US against Viture, alleging the firm is infringing on a patent for its AR glasses technology.

According to Xreal’s press release, the suit was filed in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas and involves US Patent No. 11,988,839. In a nutshell, the patent outlines optical tech that helps enhance image quality and field-of-view in a lightweight form factor. Xreal argues Viture has several products, including the Viture Pro, Luma Pro, and Luma Ultra, that infringe on its technology.

In November, a German court ruled in favor of Xreal in a similar suit. The result was a preliminary injunction against Viture selling, marketing, or importing their products in nine EU countries.

Patent battles are becoming more common among smart glasses makers. Meta was hit with two cases in late 2025. The first involved the electromyography tech in its Neural Band, which allows people to use gestures to control the display in its Meta Ray-Ban Display glasses. The second involves AI and recording tech in its Ray-Ban glasses. Meanwhile, patent troll IngenioSpec filed an International Trade Commission case against several players, including Even Realities, Brilliant Labs, and Halliday, over AI glasses patents.

“I would say it shows the market is getting big enough and enough attention that defending IP is going to become increasingly important,” says Anshel Sag, principal analyst at Moor Insights and Strategy. “There’s billions at stake for many companies and potentially control of the next computing platform.”

“We’re starting to see IP lawsuits in this area because smart glasses are now approaching mainstream status and more vendors are entering the space,” agrees Avi Greengart, an analyst at Techsponential. “Meta’s smart glasses are starting to sell in the millions, Xreal’s smart displays are selling in volume, and Xreal is looking ahead to Project Aura with Google. If you have a patent portfolio, you have to defend it.”

The danger of patent wars is that they could stifle innovation in a burgeoning space. Both Sag and Greengart say they’re not particularly worried about this being the case for XR, however. Xreal’s case in particular is less about patent trolling (i.e., abusing patents without intending to make a product, etc.) and more of an argument about whether a competitor is unfairly using a rival’s “fundamental technology.”

“You get patent trolls all the time, especially in high-growth industries or ones that are expected to become profitable, but this doesn’t really fit that because these are two competitors that both have products in market,” says Sag, referring to Xreal’s case.

The Verge reached out to Viture, but didn’t receive a response before publication. Xreal also declined to provide an attributable comment, citing the company’s legal policy that all statements regarding active litigation be quoted to a “spokesperson” rather than an individual.