Volkswagen Group files its first two UPC cases (against PACCAR); tech giant Broadcom is now suing three automakers there in parallel (Renault, Nissan, Hyundai)

Context: Various vehicle makers and their suppliers have been (and are being) sued in the Unified Patent Court (UPC):

• Broadcom, a trillion-dollar tech giant and the most valuable company ever to have operated a patent licensing program involving vigorous enforcement (February 7, 2026 ip fray article), settled with Tesla. It subsequently sued Renault, against which it has recently won an injunction in German national court (February 6, 2026 ip fray article), and in Section 6.2.1 of our most recent UPC Roundup we listed (besides litigation against Deutsche Telekom) a new filing against Nissan. Years before the UPC opened its doors, Broadcom’s highest-profile enforcement against an automaker targeted Volkswagen/Audi, resulting in a billion-dollar settlement. Since then, Volkswagen has been actively lobbying against nea-automatic patent injunctions.
• The vast majority of automotive industry players opt for an Avanci 4G or 5G license, making infringement litigation over cellular standards-essential patents (SEPs) rare, but there are a couple of unlicensed ones that are being sued in the UPC:
  • Chinese automaker Geely, some of whose brands such as Volvo have taken an Avanci license, is on the receiving end of enforcement actions by Nokia (July 22, 2025 ip fray article) and Sun Patent Trust (December 10, 2025 ip fray article).
  • In other fora than the UPC, Acer and Longhorn are suing truck conglomerate PACCAR (July 24, 2025 ip fray article).

What’s new:

• Scania, a brand belonging to almost-wholly-owned Volkswagen Group subsidiary Traton, is suing rival truck maker PACCAR in the Nordic-Baltic Regional Division (NBRD) over EP2861484 (“Air deflector and freight vehicle”) and EP3297866 (“A commercial vehicle comprising a superstructure and a chassis”). The filings were made two weeks ago and became discoverable now.
• Broadcom subsidiary Avago is suing Hyundai in the Munich Local Division (LD) over EP3651429 (“Vehicle communication network”).

Direct impact:

• It is too early to tell whether Scania is seeking product differentiation or royalties. It is suing PACCAR’s largest European subsidiary, DAF.
• Hyundai is not known for drawn-out patent litigation, so a settlement may happen before the UPC has to decide, especially when considering that the Munich LD cannot keep the 12-month timeline due to its case load.

Wider ramifications:

• PACCAR now has to deal with SEP (Acer, Longhorn) and non-SEP (Volkwagen’s Scania) lawsuits in parallel. Patent lawsuits between automotive companies are relatively rare; they are more likely to be sued by other patent holders, presumably owing to significant cross-licensing or (formal or informal) mutual covenants not to sue. It is surprising that PACCAR has not yet settled with the cellular SEP holders.
• By now the entire automotive industry, to the extent it hasn’t taken a license already, knows that Broadcom means business. Not all automakers may be susceptible to the Ethernet patent underlying Broadcom’s injunction against Renault, but the company has a vast patent portfolio and there is probably not a single automaker that doesn’t need to license any of Broadcom’s patents.