Lenovo hit by injunction in Germany; UPC issues first SEP decision; Ericsson's 1% 5G smartphone royalty revealed; Orange joins Sisvel Wi-Fi 6 pool; 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
The ongoing multijurisdictional FRAND licensing dispute between InterDigital and Lenovo saw another major development last week when the US R&D and licensing business secured an injunction against Lenovo in Germany after a court found that the Chinese giant had acted as an unwilling licensee during negotiations. The Unified Patent Court also handed down its first-ever SEP-related decision in a ruling that could benefit Panasonic as it seeks to secure a licensing deal with Xiaomi.
Elsewhere, Ericsson filed a brief at the Federal Circuit stating that it has secured several 5G SEP licensing deals with smartphone manufacturers based on a 1% royalty rate, capped at $4 per unit. Meanwhile Sisvel has welcomed Orange as the latest licensor in our Wi-Fi 6 patent pool. There are many other stories to keep an eye on too. It was a busy week!
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
The Munich Regional Court has granted InterDigital an injunction against Lenovo in the pair’s dispute relating to 4G and 5G SEPs, having found that the Chinese company behaved as an unwilling licensee that has not acted in accordance with FRAND principles. InterDigital - Press Release
The Mannheim Local Division of the UPC has made the court’s first SEP-related decision, enabling Panasonic to present licensing agreements with two third parties that it believes will help support its case in a litigation with Xiaomi. Unified Patent Court makes first standard-essential patent decision: Mannheim LD orders production of license agreements – ip fray
The Patent Trial and Appeal Board has invalidated one of the patents successfully asserted by G+ Communications against Samsung in a closely watched FRAND-related trial that had seen a damages award of $142 million levied on the tech giant. Samsung Gets PTAB To Sink Patent Tied To $142M Verdict - Law360 (Paywall)
NPE Four Batons Wireless has filed suit against Samsung in the Eastern District of Texas accusing the Korean company of infringing four wireless SEPs co-developed by Ericsson affiliate Telcordia Technologies and Toshiba America Research. NPE sues Samsung over wireless patents co-developed by Ericsson and Toshiba; represented by Susman Godfrey – ip fray
Dolby Laboratories has sued Indian smartphone maker Lava at the Delhi High Court in a SEP infringement centred on the AAC and USAC standards. The companies have reportedly been engaged in licensing talks for over five years. Dolby sues Indian smartphone maker over AAC, USAC SEPs - IAM (iam-media.com) (Paywall)
The latest Unified Patent Court data has been released. Covering the period up to the end of April, it shows a total of 341 cases have been filed, including 123 infringement actions. Case load of the Court_end April 2024_30.04_TK_edit 2_05_DC_final.pdf (unified-patent-court.org)
Market
Orange has become the latest world-class innovator to sign up to the Sisvel Wi-Fi 6 patent pool as a licensor, joining Huawei Technologies, Mediatek, Mitsubishi Electric, Panasonic, Philips, SK Telecom and Wilus in offering its IP through the programme. Sisvel | Orange becomes latest licensor to join Sisvel’s Wi-Fi 6 patent pool
Ericsson revealed in a Federal Circuit brief that multiple smartphone manufacturers have agreed to pay the company 5G SEP royalties amounting to 1% of a phone’s selling price, capped at $4 per unit. The names of these licensees were redacted. Ericsson says other phone makers accepted its 1% (capped at $4 per unit) 5G standard-essential patent royalty – ip fray
InterDigital booked $264 million in total revenues for Q1. The company’s consumer electronics and IoT programme delivered its best-ever quarter on the back of a new licence with Samsung covering digital TVs and display monitors. InterDigital - Press Release
Qualcomm reported $1.3 billion in licensing revenue during its second fiscal quarter. The company also saw 40% growth in chip sales to Chinese mobile OEMs during the first half of the current financial year. Qualcomm Announces Second Quarter Fiscal 2024 Results | Qualcomm
In the six months since opening its first China office, InterDigital has made several senior hires in the country, aiming to boost its profile as an R&D innovator and close licensing agreements in the wireless and multimedia spaces. InterDigital’s Beijing office aims to spur telecoms, video codec deals - IAM (iam-media.com) (Paywall)
Policy
In an interview with IAM, incoming ETSI director-general Jan Ellsberger discussed his six-point plan for the standards body, which includes working across a broader range of technology areas. He also addressed the reportedly rocky relationship between ETSI and the European Commission. Meet ETSI’s newly-appointed director-general - IAM (iam-media.com) (Paywall)
Analysis and opinion
New research has found that patent pools represent a significant source of publicly-accessible information about declared SEPs, requested royalties and standard licence terms. Sisvel | Patent pools bring crucial transparency to SEP licensing
Ericsson CEO Börje Ekholm has called for changes to EU anti-trust policy, warning that a focus on regulation is “driving Europe to irrelevance”. Ericsson chief says overregulation ‘driving Europe to irrelevance’ (ft.com) (Paywall)
Median damages awards handed down in US patent cases have declined over the last 15 years, while there has also been a sharp downturn in the number of permanent injunctions with just 36 issued between 2018 and 2022. 2024 Marcum Patent Litigation Study (law360news.com)
