On Wednesday (26th August 2020), the UK Supreme Court unanimously dismissed appeals from Chinese tech giants, Huawei and ZTE. The appeals were regarding patent disputes over mobile data technology with Unwired Planet International and Conversant Wireless.
For those unaware, Unwired filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Huawei for 5 UK patents, that Unwired had acquired from Ericsson and were essential in mobile telecommunications. Previously, the English court found two of the patents valid and essential, and now, the following trial found that Unwired’s license terms were valid and were enforceable.
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Similarly, the second appeal was brought to court by Conversant against Huawei and ZTE. Allegedly, both Chinese vendors had infringed on four of its UK patents. These were acquired from Nokia and were related to LTE standards used in 4G smartphones for downloading and sending data. At the moment, Huawei and ZTE have argued that the UK courts did not have jurisdiction to determine the validity of foreign patents.
However, the trial judge has ruled against the two companies, stating that the court had jurisdiction under an international patent framework agreed by the mobile industry. Thus, both appeals were unanimously dismissed earlier this week by the Supreme Court. The move is said to “help level the playing field when small companies are trying to license SEP portfolios to global giants with seemingly limitless litigation resources.”
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