Published: 1/16/14In a preliminary opinion directing an investigation based on a second complaint by Intex against Ericsson, the Competition Commission of India repeated the same preliminary conclusions that it expressed in directing the first investigation of Ericsson due to allegations by Micromax. A summary of the first complaint and related [...]

Published: 5/20/13This investigation by the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) was based on a complaint filed by Samsung against Apple regarding alleged infringement of several of its patents on smartphones and tablets. Apple asserted that Samsung was precluded from seeking any form of injunctive relief (such as a cease-and-desist or [...]

Published: 1/3/13 The U.S. Federal Trade Commission settled charges that Google’s Motorola Mobility Division violated the Federal Trade Commission Act by seeking injunctions and exclusion orders against willing licensees of its FRAND-encumbered SEPs. The settlement provides for the establishment of a dispute resolution mechanism to adjudicate FRAND rates and bars [...]

Published: 12/9/12The Rambus case involved allegations of standard-setting deception rather than FRAND abuse. The European Commission’s decision in Rambus is nevertheless relevant to the FRAND debate because of its analysis of the appropriate royalty base on which a SEP holder may impose a royalty. In the Commission’s market testing of [...]

Published: 2/13/12The Commission reviewed Google’s acquisition of Motorola Mobility Holding (MMH), including its patent portfolio containing a number of SEPs, to determine the transaction’s compatibility with competition requirements. As to the acquisition of MMH’s SEPs, the European Commission explained that “FRAND commitments essentially oblige SEP owners: (i) to make the [...]

Published: 1/1/12 The U.S. FTC settled charges that a company acquired by Robert Bosch GmbH (Bosch) “reneged on a licensing commitment made to two standard-setting bodies to license its standards-essential patents (‘SEPs’) … on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory terms (‘FRAND’) by seeking injunctions against willing licensees of those SEPs.” In [...]

Published: 7/23/09Note: No link available. On 23 July 2009, the Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) decided to impose final corrective measures and a penalty of USD 227.6 million on Qualcomm for abusing its dominant position in the CDMA technology market. The KFTC determined that Qualcomm excluded its competitors and maintained [...]

Published: 8/3/13The letter from USTR disapproved of, and thus overturned, the ITC’s decision in a section 337 case to issue (i) an exclusion order that would have prohibited the importation of Apple smartphones and tablets that allegedly infringed a FRAND-encumbered SEP patent owned by Samsung; and (ii) a cease and [...]