China’s Patent-Lawsuit Profile Grows
Published: 11/7/16
Publication: Wall Street Journal
“When a Canadian patent-licensing firm wanted to sue Japanese electronics company Sony Corp., it chose an unlikely venue: China.
Ottawa-based WiLAN Inc., which earns revenue by licensing its patents, filed a suit against Sony last week in a court in the eastern Chinese city of Nanjing, alleging that the Japanese company’s smartphones violated its wireless-communication-technology patent, according to the filing reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.” – [READ MORE]
French Court Rejects Unfair Competition Claim Based on Patentee’s Compliance with Huawei v. ZTE
Published: 11/7/16
Publication: Comparative Patent Remedies
“In a judgment dated September 20, 2016, the Tribunal de Commerce de Marseille rejected an unfair competition claim filed by Wiko, which markets mobile phones, products, and telecommunications services, against Sisvel, which the court describes as an intermediary between patent owners and implementers. (Judgment available here, in French. Hat tip to Professor Nicolas Petit for bringing it to my attention.) The claim was based on demand letters that Sisvel allegedy sent to to […]
The UK high court to determine FRAND rates for standard essential patents
Published: 11/7/16
Publication: Allen & Overy
“The 8-week Non-Technical trial of Unwired Planet v Huawei has begun. This is the fourth trial concerning Unwired Planet’s (UP) attempts to enforce its Standard Essential Patents (SEPs) against Huawei. In March 2014, UP sued Huawei, Google, and Samsung for infringement of a number of patents. The UK High Court split the litigation into six separate trials: five to determine the validity and/or infringement of the patents, and one, the current trial, to determine whether […]
Ericsson wants to obtain Apple’s carrier agreements in order to buttress its patent royalty demands
Published: 11/7/15
Publication: FOSS Patents
I write about discovery disputes only once or twice a year because most of them don’t matter to anyone other than the parties. But two letters filed by Apple and Ericsson in the Northern District of California last night are worth taking a look because the underlying legal question is of the utmost importance–even more important than their Alice motion process.
China’s And Japan’s Antitrust Enforcement Agencies Warm Up To Each Other
Published: 10/10/16
Publication: Mondaq
Although China and Japan have very different histories regarding their antitrust laws, antitrust enforcement officials from the two countries have recently taken steps to open a formal dialogue. This is a welcome development for Chinese and Japanese companies, as well as for foreign companies that do business in China and Japan, and it continues the trend of increased communication, cooperation and coordination among national enforcement agencies. There remains an open question, however, as to how […]
FTC Releases Long-Awaited Patent Assertion Entity Study
Published: 10/7/16
Publication: Essential Patent Blog
Yesterday, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) released a 269-page Report following its study of patent assertion entities (“PAEs”) — i.e. what the FTC’s press release calls “firms that acquire patents from third parties and then try to make money by licensing or suing accused infringers.” (see our Sep. 27, 2013 post, May 21, 2014 post and Aug. 14, 2014 post for background on this PAE study). The report is based on a […]