China’s Lenovo Group should pay US expertise agency InterDigital $138.7 million (almost Rs. 1,150 crore) for a licence for its portfolio of telecommunications patents, London’s Excessive Courtroom dominated on Thursday within the newest spherical of a long-running dispute.
InterDigital introduced the lawsuit in opposition to Lenovo in 2019 over the phrases on which Lenovo ought to take a licence of its patents that are important to 3G, 4G and 5G requirements.
The litigation, which has to this point featured 5 separate trials, centres on the honest, cheap and non-discriminatory (FRAND) phrases of a licence for InterDigital’s patents.
Decide James Mellor mentioned in a written ruling on Thursday that earlier provides made by each Lenovo and InterDigital – which had provided $337 million (almost Rs. 3,000) for a six-year licence – weren’t made on FRAND phrases.
He mentioned Lenovo ought to pay a $138.7 million “lump sum” to cowl previous and future gross sales of cellular gadgets from 2007 till the tip of 2023.
Lenovo described the ruling as “a significant win for the expertise trade and the shoppers we serve”.
John Mulgrew, Lenovo’s chief mental property officer, mentioned in a press release the choice “reinforces FRAND’s vital function in facilitating clear and equitable licensing practices for standardized applied sciences”.
InterDigital’s Chief Authorized Officer Josh Schmidt welcomed what he mentioned was the ruling’s recognition that “a licensee ought to pay in full for the previous infringement of ordinary important patents”.
Nonetheless, he mentioned in a press release: “We plan to enchantment, as we consider that sure points of the choice don’t precisely replicate our licensing program.”
London-based patent lawyer Mark Marfe, who was not concerned within the case, mentioned the choice bolstered the Excessive Courtroom’s willingness to grant a world FRAND licence.
China is the one different jurisdiction the place courts have set world FRAND charges for so-called customary important patents.
Marfe added that “all eyes will likely be on the Unified Patent Courtroom”, a standard patent court docket for European Union member states which opens in June, to see whether or not it takes the same strategy.
© Thomson Reuters 2023
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