On 16 March 2023, the High Court of England and Wales handed down its judgment following the FRAND trial in InterDigital v Lenovo. This is the second judgment containing a substantive FRAND determination issued by the English Courts and the UK remains one of the few jurisdictions in which courts can and have determined global…
France, Germany and Italy are holding trilateral talks on redistribution of the competencies that were originally allocated to the London seat of the UPC’s central division among Paris, Munich and Milan. According to the German Ministry of Justice, a decision is expected shortly. A spokesperson told Kluwer IP Law: ‘Once an agreement has been reached,…
A number of recent decisions have highlighted the risks that can arise from the practice of supplying draft judgments to litigants and their advisers under an embargo. The courts have made it clear that a breach of embargo is to be treated seriously, and failure to comply with an embargo may result in proceedings for…
Nokia v Oppo [2023] EWHC 23 (Pat) In a new development in the global dispute between Nokia and Oppo that spans seven jurisdictions across Europe and Asia, Mr Justice Meade of the English Patents Court has found that smartphone manufacturer Oppo infringes valid and standard essential Nokia 4G/5G patent EP2981103 on an “allocation of preamble…
Damages enquiries in patent cases rarely make it to trial, let alone to the Court of Appeal, so this judgment provides important guidance on the assessment of damages for patent (and by extension other IP rights) infringement. Background Anan Kasei is the proprietor of a patent to high surface area cerium oxide, a catalyst…
The past decade has witnessed a sharp increase in litigation over standard essential patents (SEPs) around the world. National courts in several countries including UK have ruled they can set global FRAND rates, the Unwired Planet case in UK being a notable example. This approach is controversial and has sparked debates over the ability of…
If everything goes according to the most recent plan, the Unified Patent Court will finally open its doors on 1 June 2023, with the sunrise period starting the first of March. The UK, initially one of the driving forces behind the Unitary Patent system, will not join the opening party, as it withdrew its membership…
Geofabrics Limited v Fiberweb Geosynthetics Limited [2022] EWHC 2363 (Pat) Geofabrics Limited (“Geofabrics”) has been awarded £13.4 million in damages for patent infringement, concluding a 5 year long dispute with Fiberweb Geosynthetics Limited (“Fiberweb”). Damages inquiries are rare in the UK so this judgment from Charlotte May KC (sitting as a Deputy High Court Judge),…
On 24 August 2022, Nicholas Caddick QC (sitting as a Deputy High Court Judge in the Intellectual Property Enterprise Court) handed down his decision in Vernacare Limited v Moulded Fibre Products Limited [2022] EWHC 2197 (IPEC), a case on open topped washbowls made from moulded paper pulp, such as those used in hospitals, care homes…
Recently, the decisions of courts in the United Kingdom (UK) in Unwired Planet v Huawei Technologies (Unwired Planet) and Optis Cellular Technology v Apple (which followed the decision of the UK Supreme Court in Unwired Planet) have given rise to significant debate over the appropriate forum for litigation of disputes in relation to standard essential…
