Nokia sues Verifone; EDTX FRAND damages retrial; Why patent pools rock; the VVC surge and plenty more besides
The very busy people who work in the global IP market often do not have time to keep up to date with everything that is going on and which may impact the way the market operates.
With that in mind, we are today initiating a new service for our clients and friends: a Monday summary of – and links to – the news stories, data points, opinion pieces and analyses that caught our eye over the previous week. This does not mean that we agree with everything featured, but we do believe it is of interest and worth pointing out.
With all that in mind, here's the first offering (uniquely, because this is the first one, it covers a bit more than the last seven days).
Legal
Nokia has sued Verifone in Germany and at the UPC, alleging that the US-based company’s point of sale devices infringe cellular and Wi-Fi patents. In a blog post announcing the campaign, Patrik Hammaren, head of Nokia’s IoT licensing programme, said it follows several years of discussions. Payment terminals rely on our technology | Nokia
Judge Gilstrap has ordered a damages retrial in G+ Communications v Samsung which had seen an original jury award of $67.5 million plus rolling royalties. The case was the most recent in a series that have indicated US and European approaches to the FRAND dance are beginning to align. Texas court orders damages retrial in $67.5m Samsung case | Managing Intellectual Property (managingip.com)
Following a slow start, there are now four separate vehicle-related disputes involving five major automotive companies taking place at the UPC. BMW, Audi, Volkswagen, Toyota and Tesla are all now embroiled in contentious matters at the pan-EU court. UPC automotive disputes gather pace, but Avanci licensors notably absent - IAM (iam-media.com)
Market
New research published by Yanis Luca Gamarra of the TUM School of Management recommends that "policymakers should incentivize pool formation and participation to reduce licensing complexities and facilitate technological innovation in the IoT". Sisvel | Patent pools deliver market balance, transparency and equity, new research shows
Chipset support for the VVC codec is ramping up, but a “critical mass” of VVC-capable mobile devices and smart TVs is not expected to materialise until 2027 or 2028, according to a review of the space in IAM. VVC deployment is starting, but there’s a long process ahead - IAM (iam-media.com)
On a dollar basis, Ericsson's licensing revenues for 2023 fell slightly in 2023 but over-performed the five-year rolling average, according to research done by Avvika managing director Erik Stasik and published on LinkedIn. Ericsson's Increasing IPR Licensing Revenues | LinkedIn
Policy
"In short, we aim to build China into a preferred place for international intellectual property litigation, and to build our court into an international IP protection pioneer," says He Zhonglin, First Deputy Chief Judge, Intellectual Property Court, Chinese Supreme People's Court. NPC & CPPCC 2024: Chinese courts seek to become preferred venues for resolving international IP litigation - CGTN
The US Judicial Conference has strengthened measures to promote random judge assignments in a bid to curb “judge-shopping” in patent litigation. IPWatchdog has the story. Judicial-Conference-Policy-Random-Case-Assignments-Tillis-Roberts-Complaints (ipwatchdog.com)
Opinion
John Mulgrew, head of IP at Lenovo, laid out his position in favour of the EU SEP regulation in an op/ed. Acknowledging that small and mid-sized companies are “largely ignored” by SEP licensors at present, Mulgrew argues that there is no justification for the disparate treatment large and small companies currently receive. Weekly take: Why transparency and certainty are crucial for SEP licensing | Managing Intellectual Property (managingip.com)