Category: IP-related competition matters
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European Commission proposes condoning group boycott by implementers of standards for six months: licensing negotiation groups
The European Commission’s Directorate-General for Competition (DG COMP) today started consultations for its technology transfer guidelines.
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Supreme Court of India sidesteps patent-related questions in SEP as well as pharma contexts by declaring cases moot
The Supreme Court of India shows little appetite for patent and patent-related cases, looking for ways to declare cases moot rather than addressing legal issues.
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Patent assertions are off limits for antitrust watchdog: Supreme Court of India throws out appeal of Ericsson’s Delhi HC win
The Supreme Court of India affirmed a 2023 decision by the Delhi High Court in Ericsson’s favor, which held that the Competition Commission of India cannot investigate patent assertions.
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EU Commission issues comfort letter to Automotive Licensing Negotiation Group: officially policy-driven competition (non)-enforcement
Context: About a year ago, the Bundeskartellamt (Federal Cartel Office (FCO) of Germany) granted what we called an unprecedented cartel clearance to an Automotive Licensing Negotiation Group (ALNG) for standard-essential patents (SEPs) consisting mainly of the three major German automotive groups (June 10, 2024 ip fray article). Pool administrators and SEP holders doubt that an…
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SEP news: HMD has withdrawn its EU antitrust complaint against VoiceAge EVS, which has just won another Munich injunction against OPPO
Besides the withdrawal of HMD’s complaint, a public redacted version of a Mannheim judgment vindicates VoiceAge’s FRAND licensing conduct. And pressure is mouting on OPPO.
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Apple will appeal royalty-free compulsory IP license in Epic competition case: U.S. contempt ruling could lead even to criminal prosecution
Context: Apple is anathema to many in the intellectual property (IP) community, particularly to large parts of the standard-essential patent (SEP) ecosystem, because it has for a long time advocated the devaluation of SEPs (a strategy that its litigation with Qualcomm exposed) and generally favors policies that complicate patent enforcement against deep-pocketed defendants. ip fray…
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The UK must be more consistently pro-IP to achieve its government’s growth goals: judicial and regulatory overreach runs counter to agenda
The current UK government talks the pro-business (and pro-innovation) talk, but must also walk the pro-IP walk. Consistently so.
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Huawei’s two UPC lawsuits against MediaTek add another jurisdiction to a dispute that actually has its center of gravity in China
Context: Recently, a MediaTek case against Huawei in the UK, with a wide range of claims from antitrust to FRAND to declaratory judgment to infringement, survived a jurisdictional challenge, as the hurdle at that stage is low (March 2025 LinkedIn post by ip fray) What’s new: The two latest infringement complaints listed in the public…
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Podcast on EU (over)regulation with a Member of the European Parliament and experienced trade and competition lawyers
Yesterday was an extraordinarily important day for the European Union’s approach to regulation. The European Commission (EC) released its 2025 work program, according to which the proposed EU regulation on standard-essential patents and the AI Liability Directive have been withdrawn (initial report, overview of third-party statements). It was also the day that the Vice President…
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Xockets now trying to assert patents against Microsoft’s Fungible and Azure Boost DPUs after first focusing on Microsoft’s use of Nvidia chips
Patent holder Xockets continues its patent and antitrust litigation against Nvidia and Microsoft with extreme maneuvering.