Category: Licensors and/or Licensees
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Federal Circuit revives patent case against Nokia, Cisco, Adva: assignment clause under employment contract deemed ambiguous
The majority of a Federal Circuit panel took a rather inventor-friendly position on an assignment clause in an employment agreement.
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5G SEP report shows ZTE’s essentiality ratio towering above other major patentees: plausible, but essentiality ratios are snake oil
Context: Certain patent data and research firms occasionally release rankings of major standard-essential patent (SEP) holders. Different methodologies lead to different results. What’s new: A couple of weeks ago, GreyB published “Updated Findings” (PDF) relating to its 5G Essentiality Report. The top six 5G SEP holders according to GreyB account for about 60% of all…
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Munich I Regional Court chastised Lenovo for “hold-out tactics” and declined to recognize UK FRAND determination
InterDigital’s licensing chief has quoted certain passages of the Munich I Regional Court’s recent InterDigital v. Lenovo judgment that reflect unfavorably on Lenovo’s refusal to take a license.
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Good for NPEs and litigation funders: UPC Munich LD denies requests to order U.S.-based licensing firm to provide security for litigation costs
The Unified Patent Court’s Munich Local Division denied a request by Volkswagen, its Audi subsidiary and Texas Instruments that a license firm be ordered to provide security for litigation expenses.
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WiLAN subsidiary IPA Technologies obtains $242M verdict against Microsoft over patent related to Apple’s Siri voice assistant
A lawsuit filed in the Delaware in early 2018 against Microsoft over six patents resulted in a verdict over just one of those patents, but amounting to $242 million.
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UPC Mannheim LD sticks to German practice of severing claims against non-EU defendants to avoid delays due to service of process
The UPC’s Mannheim Local Division has split up each of three Panasonic v. Xiaomi actions before it into three separate cases so as not to be held up by service of process outside the EU.
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Lenovo’s UK-centric SEP litigation strategy against Ericsson and InterDigital exposed again by official filings
In its current SEP disputes with Ericsson and InterDigital, Lenovo consistently favors the UK over other jurisdictions, even to the point where its actions contradict its words.
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Ericsson says other phone makers accepted its 1% (capped at $4 per unit) 5G standard-essential patent royalty
Context: In February, Judges Terrence Boyle of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina denied an antisuit injunction motion by Lenovo and its Motorola Mobility subsidiary that would have barred Ericsson from the enforcement of various Latin American standard-essential patent (SEP) injunctions (February 15, 2024 ip fray article). Lenovo appealed…