BREAKING: ZTE-Samsung patent dispute ends as key UPC Mannheim case is withdrawn; several courts supported ZTE’s FRAND rate

Context: The multijurisdictional dispute between China’s ZTE and South Korea’s Samsung that started two years ago led to various landmark decisions and procedural twists. The most recent development was a pretrial order by the UPC’s Mannheim Local Division (LD) which strongly suggested that an injunction against Samsung was the most likely outcome of a trial scheduled for later this month (October 22, 2026 ip fray article).

What’s new: This morning, the Mannheim LD granted the parties’ joint request to terminate the proceedings ahead of trial.

Direct impact: The sole plausible explanation at this stage of proceeding is that a settlement was reached. This puts an end to a hard-fought dispute and must have substantial revenue impact given that ZTE’s position on fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory (FRAND) licensing terms was backed by several courts (May 12, 2026 ip fray article).

Wider ramifications:

• This is a major breakthrough for ZTE’s licensing program. The company has shown its ability to vigorously enforce its rights, and the fact that courts in three different jurisdictions (a Chinese court, the UPC, and the Munich I Regional Court) supported its FRAND position will be taken note of by the wider implementer commmunity.
• This is arguably by far the most significant settlement to have been driven primarily by the UPC. The Munich I Regional Court had granted an injunction, and it undoubtedly played another important role in this dispute, but the Munich injunction alone did not lead Samsung to settle. The Munich appeals court had made a sealed decision on security, and potentially the amount of a deposit enabling the enforcement of a Germany-wide injunction against Samsung would have been sky-high. The specter of a multi-country UPC injunction, potentially enforceable without an astronomical security amount, appears to have tipped the scales, though it could also be that one or both parties were experiencing litigation fatigue and had generally made progress toward an agreement. Still, the UPC (and particularly its Mannheim LD) is clearly a winner.