Supreme Court hands Unwired Planet victory in FRAND dispute
In a long awaited judgment, the Supreme Court has confirmed that Unwired Planet (Unwired) did not abuse its dominant position when seeking an injunction against the use by Huawei of its standard essential patents (SEPs).
The Court found that Unwired had been willing to grant a licence to Huawei and ZTE on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory (FRAND) terms.
The Court also confirmed that Unwired did not act abusively when it sought an injunction when the putative licensees objected to its licensing terms.
The Court defeated Huawei’s antitrust claims, including the argument that Unwired had acted in a discriminatory manner by offering Huawei royalty rates that were higher than those offered to Samsung.
The ruling marks the end of a dispute going back to 2014 and will be welcomed by SEP holders. The analysis revolved mostly around contract law and industry practice. Parties seeking to rely on competition arguments in defence to claims of IPR infringement will need to consider their position carefully in light of the judgment.
[2020] UKSC 37 On appeals from: [2018] EWCA Civ 2344 and [2019] EWCA Civ 38
https://www.supremecourt.uk/cases/docs/uksc-2018-0214-judgment.pdf
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