Context: Two weeks ago, the Munich I Regional Court’s 7th Civil Chamber handed OPPO its first-ever win in a 5G standard-essential patent (SEP) enforcement action it brought (March 13, 2026 ip fray article).
What’s new: Today, the same court’s 21st Civil Chamber granted ASUS affiliate Innovative Sonic Corporation a SEP injunction against OPPO‘s and its affiliate OnePlus‘s 5G multimode devices. The patent-in-suit is EP2802185 (“Method and apparatus for adding serving cells in a wireless communication system”) and covers multi-mode dual connectivity.
Direct impact:
- The judgment is provisionally enforceable pending an appeal. The required collateral is a non-issue. It is a euro amount in the high six figures.
- A non-binding preliminary opinion (NBPO) by the Federal Patent Court of Germany will likely be rendered next month. If it was negative, enforcement would grind to a halt. But the Munich I Regional Court decided to go ahead and adjudge the case now, unconvinced of a high probability of invalidation. And there was a positive NBPO for this patent in a prior proceeding.
Wider ramifications:
- Nothing says “you win some, you lose some” like ASUS’s experience in the Munich I Regional Court.
- That court has had a busy and eventful week on the patent litigation front. Prior to today’s judgment, the following decisions came down:
- ZTE became the first-ever defendant to raise a successful FRAND (fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory licensing) defense in Munich (March 26, 2026 ip fray article).
- Nokia won two new video patent injunctions: one each against Acer and ASUS (another March 26, 2026 ip fray article).
- Israel’s Sckipio (that is indeed the name, no typo there) won an injunction against a high-speed fixed-line internet access offering by Deutsche Telekom (March 27, 2026 ip fray article).
The reasons for which Innovative Sonic overcame OPPO’s FRAND defense are not known at this point. Presumably, the judicial philosophy behind the decision is the one the chamber’s presiding judge outlined last month (February 14, 2026 ip fray article).
The Wildanger firm, which represented Innovative Sonic as well as Sckipio (last bullet point above), has now landed a double whammy in Munich: two injunctions against major defendants in as many days.
The case no. is 21 O 2342/25. The trial was held on March 6, 2026.
Court and counsel
21st Civil Chamber: Presiding Judge Dr. Hubertus Schacht, Judge Obermeier, and Judge Dr. Benz.
Counsel for Innovative Sonic: Wildanger’s (ip fray firm profile) Dr. Alexander Reetz, Peter-Michael Weisse, and Dr. Eva Maria Thoerner (“Thörner”), and Julia Mauelshagen; together with Cohausz & Florack patent attorneys Dr. Christoph Walke and Dr. Martin Ruetten (“Rütten”).
Counsel for OPPO and its affiliate OnePlus: Taylor Wessing’s (ip fray firm profile in the making) Dr. Gisbert Hohagen and Stefanie Engmann; together with Paustian patent attorney Christoph Hewel.