Canadian Competition Bureau Releases Significant Updates to its IP Enforcement Guidelines
Published: 4/7/16
Publication: Lexology
On March 31, 2016, the Competition Bureau (Bureau) released revised Intellectual Property Enforcement Guidelines (IPEGs). These IPEGs reflect incremental changes to the draft version released for consultation last year. Most notably the new IPEGs provide further guidance on (i) pharmaceutical patent litigation settlements, (ii) product switching (also known as “product hopping”), (iii) collaborative standard setting and standard essential patents, and (iv) patent assertion entities.
HTC Hits Ericsson With FRAND Suit Over Wireless Network IP
Published: 4/6/17
Publication: Law360
“HTC America Inc. filed a FRAND suit in Washington federal court on Thursday alleging Ericsson Inc. refuses to accept its fair and reasonable royalty rate calculations to license standard-essential patents related to cellular and wireless networks, saying Ericsson is attempting to overcharge it for soon-to-be-obsolete technology. Ericsson holds standards-essential patents related to mobile phone operation on 2G, 3G and 4G networks, as well as wireless area local networks, or WLANs, HTC’s suit says.” — [READ MORE]
Injunctive Relief for Standard Essential Patents Holders Will be Restricted
Published: 4/6/16
Publication: Lexology
Whether standard essential patents holders (hereinafter “SEP holders”) who have made commitments to license the patents on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory terms (“FRAND commitments”) to standard-setting organizations should be granted injunctive relief and in what situation the granting of the injunctive relief should be restricted are hot topics in the intersection between competition law and intellectual property law in recent years.
Birss J hands down first FRAND decision in Unwired Planet v Huawei
Published: 4/5/17
Publication: IPKat
“Fresh off the press is today’s decision from Mr Justice Birss in Unwired Planet v Huawei [2017] EWHC 711 – the latest judgment in the Unwired Planet cases (see previous Kat reports here). Clocking in at a cool 166 pages, the decision is the first time the High Court has not only assessed whether offers are FRAND but has gone about setting a worldwide FRAND rate. The judge, plainly anticipating that not everyone can make their way through a 166 […]
Qualcomm seeks dismissal of FTC antitrust lawsuit
Published: 4/4/17
Publication: CNET
“Qualcomm has asked a federal judge to dismiss a lawsuit filed by the Federal Trade Commission that accuses the wireless chip maker of maintaining its market dominance through anticompetitive behavior. The company’s motion, filed Monday in the US District Court in San Jose, California, contends that the FTC’s complaint fails to support claims of antitrust violations or competitive harm.
“The complaint does not contain any factual allegations of anticompetitive harm to Qualcomm’s rivals in […]
Dutch Court Rules in Standard Essential Patent Abuse of Dominance Claim
Published: 4/1/17
Publication: National Law Review
“The Hague District Court in the Netherlands rejected a claim brought by smartphone maker Archos alleging that Philips had abused its dominant position during negotiations concerning licenses on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory (FRAND) terms for standard essential patents (SEPs). Archos S.A. v. Koninklijke Philips N.V. (Dist. Ct. of The Hague, Feb. 10, 2017)
In June 2014, Philips discovered that Archos had used three of Philips’s patents covering UMTS and LTE technology. Because they covered […]