Context: Last month, a Brazilian court stayed an injunction obtained by IP Bridge affiliate Sun Patent Trust against Geely in Brazil (April 24, 2026 ip fray article). The connected-vehicle dispute is part of broader global litigation and licensing efforts involving cellular standard-essential patents (SEPs) for automotive connectivity technologies. Brazil has increasingly become an important venue for SEP preliminary injunctions, including in the automotive sector.
What’s new:
- A Rio de Janeiro appellate judge has now refused to suspend a separate preliminary injunction (PI) against GWM in connected-car litigation brought by Sun Patent Trust.
- The underlying lawsuit was filed on March 23, 2026 before the Rio de Janeiro State Court. On April 17, Judge Chevrand of the 7th Business Court granted a PI involving 4G-connected vehicle technologies. GWM later appealed and requested emergency relief to suspend enforcement while the appeal proceeds.
- On May 4, Reporting Appellate Judge CustĂłdio de Barros Tostes denied the request to stay the injunction and kept the order in force. The ruling also maintained monthly fines of 1 million Brazilian reais (approximately $200K) if GWM enables 4G connectivity in affected vehicles that have not yet entered the Brazilian market.
- The injunction applies only to the connectivity features of five models: WEY 07, POER P30 Trail, POER P30 Exclusive, HAVAL H9, and TANK 300. It does not stop all GWM vehicle sales in Brazil and does not affect vehicles already sold to customers.
Direct impact:
- The decision strengthens SEP enforcement efforts in Brazil’s automotive sector. In patent cases, Brazilian courts sometimes grant “urgency-based” injunctions before a full technical expert review takes place. Those injunctions can still be overturned or suspended on appeal, but that did not happen here.
- Both the lower court and the appeals court refused to stay enforcement, leaving GWM under continuing pressure while the appeal remains pending.
- The ruling is also commercially important because Brazil currently does not require connected-car services by law. That allows GWM to continue selling the affected vehicles as long as it avoids enabling the disputed 4G connectivity features.
- GWM has already taken steps to comply with the injunction. The company reportedly removed references to 4G connectivity from webpages for the affected models and also removed a separate webpage promoting its connectivity services. It also instructed marketing and sales teams not to advertise 4G connectivity.
Wider ramifications:
- The dispute highlights the growing importance of SEP licensing in the connected-car market, especially as more vehicles depend on embedded cellular technologies.
- According to counsel for IP Bridge, the Avanci licensing platform already covers roughly 88.46% of the Brazilian automotive market. The case may therefore increase pressure on remaining automakers that have not yet joined the licensing platform.
- The litigation also shows how SEP enforcement outcomes can differ across jurisdictions. In Europe, emergency connectivity systems such as eCall effectively require connected functionality in vehicles. Brazil currently has no comparable rule, making it possible for automakers to continue selling certain vehicles without connected services enabled.
The GWM ruling stands in contrast to the Geely matter, where an injunction was previously stayed on appeal. Here, the appellate judge allowed enforcement to continue even before the broader appeal had been fully decided.
Judge CustĂłdio de Barros Tostes reportedly found sufficient indications of likely infringement and concluded that prior expert evidence was not necessary at this stage to maintain the injunction.
The decision also emphasized that patent rights are not limited to monetary compensation alone. According to the ruling, patent holders also have the right to control the use of the protected technology, which the court viewed as supporting immediate injunctive relief.
Another notable aspect is how the connectivity service appears to be structured commercially in Brazil. GWM reportedly offered the connected services through separate subscription packages with annual or monthly pricing. Court filings also indicate that consumers could not simply replace the embedded connectivity SIM card with another telecom operator’s SIM card.
For SEP owners and licensing platforms, the decision may further strengthen Brazil’s reputation as a jurisdiction where connected-car injunctions can create meaningful commercial pressure even without a complete vehicle sales ban.
Counsel
Licks Attorneys’ (ip fray firm profile with numerous SEP achievements) Otto Licks, Carolina Mendes, Pedro Bacelar, Mariana Brasil, and Vitória Costa; and (also from Licks Attorneys) technical experts Dr. Ana Lucia Pinheiro, Andre Barreto, and Fabricio Sena; as well as Salomão Advogados’ Paulo Cesar Salomão Filho; Basilio Advogados’ João Augusto Basilio; and Marcelo Leite da Silva Mazzola.