Published: 7/13/16
Publication: Lexology
When Intellectual Ventures (IV), the world’s largest non-practising entity, sued Vodafone GmbH for infringement of a batch of its standard essential patents (SEPs) in Germany last September, it probably wasn’t expecting the communications services provider to launch a FRAND counterattack in Ireland. But that’s exactly what has happened.
Last month, the Irish High Court gave an indication that Ireland was the appropriate jurisdiction for hearing Vodafone’s allegations that two companies in the IV group – IV International (based in Ireland) and IV LLC (based in Delaware, USA) – had breached their obligations to license their SEPs on FRAND terms. As far as we’re aware, this is the first Irish case on issues relating to FRAND and SEP licensing. As the Irish High Court noted in its judgment, the patent and competition law issues raised by Vodafone’s application made it “something of a first in the Irish courts”. [READ MORE]