Category: Licensors and/or Licensees
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Nokia defends against third Eastern District of Texas case in a row: no infringement; and only $2M for T-Mobile’s use of Ericsson base stations
Context: Last year, there were only two cases in the Eastern District of Texas during that entire year which plaintiffs lost. In both cases, Nokia was the defendant. On April 5, 2024, Smart Path Connections lost a jury trial over three patents and a fourth had previously been thrown out by the court on summary…
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NPE launches WiFi 6 patent enforcement campaign (11 suits): SEPs formerly owned by ZTE, NXP, Marvell asserted against Acer, ASUSTek, LG, HP, Lenovo
Velocity Communication Technologies, LLC, which owns a portfolio of WiFi 6 standard-essential patents formerly owned by ZTE, Marvell Technology and NXP Semiconductors, has filed 11 complaints in the Eastern District of Texas, alleging “malicious” and “deliberate” patent infringement.
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At ZTE v. Samsung hearing, Munich I Regional Court gives new FRAND guidance, rejects security focus of UK and Munich appeals courts
Context: What’s new: The Munich I Regional Court’s 7th Civil Chamber held a FRAND hearing today relating to certain infringement actions that are part of the wider ZTE-Samsung dispute. Presiding Judge Dr. Oliver Schoen (“Schön” in German) sealed the courtroom for the case-specific matters, which in the impression of third-party observers are going better for…
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Xiaomi defeats Atlantic IP NPE Nera in UPC, two German court proceedings on hold over validity issues: defensive winning streak
Context: Xiaomi is frequently sued over patents in Europe, particularly in Germany, because of its significant market share. But it defends itself vigorously, affords first-rate lawyers, and has repeatedly achieved strong results. For example, Xiaomi won the first-ever UK interim patent license last year (October 3, 2024 ip fray article), in a case where the…
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Federal judge’s preliminary assessment: Samsung’s U.S. case against ZTE over FRAND may very well be thrown out
Context: In an unprecedented brute-force play, Samsung is presently pursuing FRAND (fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory licensing) claims over ZTE’s standard-essential patents (SEPs) in (at minimum) four jurisdictions (June 20, 2025 ip fray article). The third venue where such a filing showed up is the United States District Court for the Northern District of California (March…
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Another UK decision on FRAND procedures, another opportunity missed to depart from judicial imperialism: MediaTek v. Huawei
Context: With decisions such as the recent interim-license declaration in Samsung v. ZTE (June 25, 2025 ip fray article; follow-up: June 27, 2025 ip fray article), UK FRAND (fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory licensing) case law has reached the point where any jurisdiction other than the UK is by definition inferior and untrustworthy. Contorted rationales are presented to…
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UK appeals court dismisses litigation funding agreement challenges by Sony, Apple, Visa, Mastercard: “victory for common sense”, say local funders
In a landmark judgment widely welcomed by litigation funders the England & Wales Court of Appeal has ruled that litigation funding agreements are not a form of damages-based agreement, dismissing several challenges filed by Sony, Apple, Visa and Mastercard in UK class action claims.
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Pantech launches U.S. 4G SEP enforcement campaign: files ITC complaint, sues TCL, HMD, OnePlus, Lenovo, Tinno
The campaign, which targets the same four patents in the same U.S. district court, was filed shortly after the Korean firm was granted Japan’s first-ever injunction in a FRAND-related case.
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Two Chinese SEP injunctions in VoiceAge EVS v. HMD — implementer failed to comply with FRAND
Context: HMD recently withdrew its EU antitrust complaint against VoiceAge EVS (May 5, 2025 ip fray article) and previously appealed a German VoiceAge EVS v. HMD appellate ruling to the Bundesgerichtshof (Federal Court of Justice) (March 29, 2025 ip fray article). VoiceAge EVS has won a number of standard-essential patent (SEP) cases against HMD, not…
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USPTO divisions’ clash over Apple patent invalidation decision undermines “integrity and consistency”, patentee alleges
A petition filed by Proxense against Apple has uncovered an inconsistency in results on substantially similar issues and the same underlying facts between decisions by the United States Patent & Trademark Office’s Patent Trial and Appeal Board and fellow internal division, the Central Reexamination Unit.