FRAND Royalty Issues in Metaswitch v. Genband
Published: 3/25/16
Publication: Comparative Patent Remedies
The Patent Damages Blog recently published a post on Magistrate Judge Roy S. Payne’s recent Memorandum Order in response to a motion to exclude certain opinions of the plaintiff’s proposed expert in Metaswitch Networks Ltd. v. Genband US LLC, a case now pending in the Eastern District of Texas. Reminiscent of Microsoft v. Motorola, the magistrate will allow the expert to rely “on the W-CDMA patent pool as evidence of the FRAND rate in this case,” and to […]
Bhupesh Bhandari: The hatke telecom war
Published: 3/24/16
Publication: Business Standard
Away from the limelight, a weighty issue is being debated heatedly in Delhi’s telecom circles. The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, on March 1 floated a discussion paper on standard essential patents and their availability on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory, or FRAND, terms. Interested people can make their submissions on the subject by the end of the month.
A standard essential patent helps a product, a […]
JFTC Wields Antitrust Law to Enforce FRAND Obligations of Standard Essential Patents
Published: 3/23/16
Publication: MoFo Client Alert
On January 21, 2016, the Japan Fair Trade Commission (“JFTC”) published revisions to its guidelines for the Antimonopoly Act (“AMA”). The new guidelines make it a fair trade practice violation for holders of a standard essential patent (“SEP”) with fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory (“FRAND”) obligations to refuse to license or bring an injunctive action against a willing licensee of their SEP.
Typically, FRAND obligations arise when a patent owner participates in a standard […]
Vringo v. ZTE Romania SEP Case
Published: 3/23/16
Publication: Comparative Patent Remedies
I mentioned in January (here) that I had read of an October 2015 Romanian appellate decision allowing a preliminary injunction Vringo had obtained against ZTE relating to a standard-essential patent to remain in effect. David Cohen of Vringo has now passed along to me a copy of the appellate court decision translated into English, available here.
Europe creates new approaches to combat abuse of a dominant position
Published: 3/22/16
Publication: Lexology
During the past year, the European Commission initiated several investigations into abuse of dominance. There will be more clarity concerning the outcome thereof in 2016. The Commission’s investigations focus to a large extent on high tech companies (Google, Qualcomm) and utility companies (Gazprom, Bulgarian Energy Holding). As for now, the substantive focus of the Commission’s investigations is on pricing policy conducted by dominant companies. The activity of the Commission is in stark contrast to the […]
FCA Policy Statement on Access to Regulated Benchmarks
Published: 3/21/16
Publication: Lexology
The FCA published a policy statement (PS16/4) on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory (FRAND) access to regulated benchmarks on 8 February 2016.
The policy statement follows a June 2015 consultation paper (CP15/18) on amendments to the Market Conduct sourcebook (MAR) requiring regulated benchmark administrators to grant access to licences to use benchmarks on a FRAND basis, including with regards to price.