Global litigation remains critical for standard essential patents
The European Union’s effort to regulate standard essential patents ended recently when the EU Commission suddenly withdrew its reform proposal. Critics say that the withdrawal of the proposed regulation will harm innovation and Europe’s competitiveness, as well as cause legal uncertainty for companies globally, but there is no indication that the commission will reverse its action. While regulation in the EU is on pause, patent licensees around the world will continue to rely on litigation to make critical business decisions. At the same time, courts are competing to be the venue that sets standards and licensing rates worldwide, which will make the differences in countries’ approaches to royalties significant.
Read on for specialist analysis from MLex correspondents around the globe.
HMD Global launches bid for US discovery of Samsung, Huawei SEP settlement
Melissa Ritti
24 February 2025
Under fire in Germany in three separate infringement actions by Huawei, HMD Global Oy is enlisting the US courts for help. HMD last week made what it calls a “a single, narrowly tailored” discovery request under 28 USC 1782: “all” agreements between Huawei and Samsung Electronics Co., including one which brought to a close global infringement litigation in 2019. According to the Finnish mobile device maker, that settlement involved “materially better” terms than what Huawei is offering HMD, making Huawei’s offer to HMD non-Frand. While the Munich District Court and Munich Higher Regional Court will consider the Samsung licenses, they will not order Huawei to produce them. Read more
Holdout by Apple, valuation of Optis SEP stack share at issue in UK appeal
Melissa Ritti
24 February 2025
A patent clash with international ramifications will be rejoined in the UK tomorrow as Optis and Apple square off at a planned five-day appeal court hearing over terms for a fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory, or Frand, license to Optis’s portfolio of cellular connectivity standard-essential patents. If the UK is to stay a preferred destination for SEP disputes, judges will likely need to fine-tune a lower court's Frand analysis — especially as other high-profile cases there inch closer toward a declaration of global license terms. Read more
Amazon, Microsoft, wider industry urge return of patent bill in letter to EU chiefs
Inbar Preiss
24 February 2025
European industry today urged the European Commission to reconsider scrapping the proposed regulation on standard-essential patents, in a letter seen by MLex. The 62 signatories argue that withdrawing the proposal would create legal uncertainty, increase costs and enable patent abuse. Supporters of the regulation, including automakers, oppose the commission’s decision, while SEP holders continue to argue it would have harmed Europe’s competitiveness. Read more
HP adds Sisvel as Wilus co-defendant, asks Texas judge to declare Frand terms
Melissa Ritti
19 February 2025
HP told a Texas federal court yesterday that an infringement action over patents declared essential to the Wi-Fi 6 standard is barred by estoppel, in view of a failure by Wilus Institute of Technology to comply with its obligation to offer licenses on fair, reasonable and nondiscriminatory terms. But HP didn’t stop there: the California-based PC maker adds patent pool Sisvel as a Wilus co-defendant on HP’s breach of contract counterclaims and asks US District Judge Rodney Gilstrap, to whom the case is assigned, to declare Frand terms for a global license to the Wilus patent portfolio. Read more
Qualcomm corporate structure in the hot seat in Texas patent row with Polaris
Melissa Ritti
18 February 2025
Sprawling allegations by Realtek Semiconductor of a “concocted” scheme between Broadcom Corp. and Avago Technologies to obfuscate their corporate structure “for tax and regulatory purposes” were never put to the test following an abrupt settlement last month in Delaware chancery court. Now, a standard essential patent owner is sounding a similar alarm in Texas. Nonpracticing entity Polaris Innovations says the "opaque" corporate structure at Qualcomm makes a group pleading appropriate — but should the court disagree, discovery is warranted. If history is any guide, the Irish entity will get its wish. Read more
Lenovo, Ericsson’s SEP fight reaches inflection point in UK
Melissa Ritti
17 February 2025
Whether standard implementers will keep their momentum in the UK should be readily apparent tomorrow, when Lenovo and Ericsson converge in London for a hearing on Lenovo’s request for a short-term license to Ericsson’s standard essential patents, or SEPs. Look to the UK Court of Appeal, led by Judge Richard Arnold, to hold its ground — and to let Lenovo “hold the ring,” as the dispute over Ericsson’s 5G SEP portfolio proceeds this spring. Read more
Amid future mobility patenting surge, worries over standards linger
Melissa Ritti
13 February 2025
A new study by the World Intellectual Property Organization paints a picture of a transportation industry very much on the move, with flatlined patenting in traditional, fossil-fuel based technologies and sustainability breakthroughs like electrified roadways and levitating trains experiencing exponential growth. Standardization is the next logical step for future mobility, but participation by industry stakeholders in the standard setting process has lagged, leading one expert to predict, “there is going to be a lot of pain.” Read more
Demise of EU tech-patent law switches attention to German court ruling this month
Inbar Preiss and Lewis Crofts
12 February 2025
The European Commission’s withdrawal of the standard-essential patent regulation proposal has sparked celebration and outrage among the deeply-opposed sides of industry. Scrapping the proposal to increase transparency in the licensing process now shifts attention to a landmark ruling expected from a German court next week, which will determine if the current framework in resolving SEP disputes needs revisiting. Read more
China aims to assert influence on IP dispute resolution through use of injunctions
MLex Staff
5 February 2025
In the realm of legal remedies, injunctions serve as powerful tools to preserve innovation and creativity. Through its approach to injunctions, China seeks to demonstrate its stated commitment to upholding intellectual property rights and is signifying its broader ambition to assert its influence on the global legal arena by shaping precedents and setting standards in IP governance. Read more
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