Huawei nixes Netgear at UPC; Nordic giants’ ITC wins; DOJ nomination bad news for Big Tech; Sisvel’s year in review; plus much more
Welcome to the latest edition of the Sisvel Insights weekly round-up, aggregating news stories, analyses and data points affecting the SEP world that have caught our eye over the past seven days
**Click here to get this newsletter delivered directly to your inbox every Monday**
The year may be drawing to an end but there is no sign that activity in the SEP/FRAND world is slowing down. Last week, Huawei was awarded an injunction against Netgear covering seven countries by the Munich Local Division of the Unified Patent Court. Across the Atlantic, meanwhile, both Ericsson and Nokia secured important wins at the International Trade Commission, against Lenovo and Amazon respectively.
Staying in the US, there was speculation that the nomination of Gail Slater to head the Department of Justice’s antitrust division in the new Trump administration will make life trickier for Big Tech companies that engage in the predatory infringement of patents. We also provided a review of what has been a busy year for Sisvel.
Please note that inclusion of a piece in the list below does not signify agreement with what is stated in the linked article, just that we believe it is of interest and worth pointing out.
Legal
Huawei secured a seven-country UPC injunction against Netgear over Wi-Fi 6 standard essential patents. ip fray | IAM 🔒| Law360🔒
ANALYSIS: The decision faulted Netgear for declining a Sisvel Wi-Fi 6 pool licence without explaining why it considered the offer to be non-FRAND. UPC’s Munich LD contradicts EU Commission, separately faults Netgear for unsubstantiated rejection of Sisvel’s WiFi 6 pool license offer – ip fray
ANALYSIS: Netgear could face another injunction as early as 9 January. Netgear running out of time against Huawei as next injunction could come down on January 9, patent exhaustion won’t move needle – ip fray
Ericsson is in position for a possible US import ban against Lenovo after the ITC sided with the Swedish company over 5G patent infringement claims Reuters | Law360 🔒 | IAM🔒 | ip fray
The ITC found that Amazon infringed Nokia multimedia patents, opening the door to an exclusion order. ITC judge recommends U.S. import ban on Amazon streaming devices due to violation of 4 out of 5 Nokia multimedia patents – ip fray
Licensors in the Via LA HEVC programme are mounting a UPC litigation campaign against Microsoft. Via LA licensors suing Microsoft in Germany and/or UPC over HEVC video codec patents – ip fray
Market
It has been a busy 2024 for Sisvel, with a string of major deals announced, several high-profile hires and growth across the firm’s pools. Sisvel | A look back at Sisvel’s 2024
BLU Products Inc took a licence to the Via LA AVC pool, ending patent litigation from Philips and Dolby. BLU Products ends Dolby and Philips lawsuits with one pool licence - IAM 🔒
Nokia revealed that it has secured a bilateral licence deal with a second Chinese automaker. Innovation powering connected cars | Nokia
Policy & Opinion
The nomination of Gail Slater to lead the US Department of Justice’s antitrust division is an indication that the Trump administration will be taking a tough line against Big Tech over the coming years. Trump Administration Nomination Signals Return To Respect For Effective Patent Rights
The proposed EU SEP regulation attracted strong criticism at an event organised by Euractiv in Brussels earlier this month. Innovation First: The Future of SEPs in Europe - Euractiv
IAM Strategy 300 Global Leaders, including Sisvel’s Mattia Fogliacco, weighed in on the outlook for global patent policy heading into 2025. EU draft regulation and US injunctive relief debates at the heart of uncertain global SEP outlook - IAM
Strategy & Analysis
There were some setbacks for implementers in UK courts during 2024, but expect continued interest in rate-setting cases there. Nine takeaways from an extraordinary year for UK SEP disputes - IAM 🔒
The Xockets antitrust case has raised important issues around buyers’ cartels, LNGs and group boycotts. Xockets’ antitrust claims against Microsoft, Nvidia and RPX may fail, but group boycott of patent holders remains overarching concern – ip fray
There is significant opportunity for patent pools to expand into new technology areas and deal types, says Via LA’s Willy Chang. What does the future hold for patent pool licensing? - IAM 🔒
