Upcoming InterDigital v Lenovo SEP/FRAND decision (UK) - HSF interviewed by IAM

IAM recently interviewed HSF IP associate David Webb for their article ‘UK InterDigital v Lenovo decision could be pivotal for global SEP strategies’, published on 12 April 2022.

Available to IAM subscribers here, the article discusses what the UK High Court’s decision in InterDigital v Lenovo could mean for global FRAND litigation strategies, providing clarity on its approach to important FRAND-related questions following the UK Supreme Court’s landmark ruling in Unwired Planet v Huawei in August 2020.

InterDigital v Lenovo is a significant case as it is only the second full FRAND trial to have taken place in the UK, the first being the landmark Unwired Planet decision (which we reported on here). The court’s decision on licence terms, and royalty rates in particular, is likely to have a substantial influence in future licensing negotiations. As David Webb commented to IAM, this case will provide further evidence of what reasonable terms are and will likely be a significant influence in negotiations between standard essential patent (SEP) owners and those seeking to use those patents for their products (implementers) in the same way as the terms established in the Unwired Planet litigation have been.

There are also key issues around the interplay between the UK and other national proceedings, with Lenovo arguing that any UK determined licence should include a mechanism to allow it to be adjusted in light of later court decisions (for example, in China and the US) on which David also comments in the article.

The InterDigital v Lenovo trial took place in January and judgment is now eagerly awaited.

For more information or to discuss SEP and FRAND issues in more detail, please contact one of the a members of our IP team below.

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