Lenovo Asked to Pay $138.7 Million for InterDigital Patents by London Court

China’s Lenovo Group should pay US expertise agency InterDigital $138.7 million (practically Rs. 1,150 crore) for a licence for its portfolio of telecommunications patents, London’s Excessive Court docket dominated on Thursday within the newest spherical of a long-running dispute.

InterDigital introduced the lawsuit towards Lenovo in 2019 over the phrases on which Lenovo ought to take a licence of its patents that are important to 3G, 4G and 5G requirements.

The litigation, which has thus far featured 5 separate trials, centres on the truthful, affordable and non-discriminatory (FRAND) phrases of a licence for InterDigital’s patents.

Choose James Mellor stated in a written ruling on Thursday that earlier affords made by each Lenovo and InterDigital – which had provided $337 million (practically Rs. 3,000) for a six-year licence – weren’t made on FRAND phrases.

He stated Lenovo ought to pay a $138.7 million “lump sum” to cowl previous and future gross sales of cellular gadgets from 2007 till the top of 2023.

Lenovo described the ruling as “a serious win for the expertise trade and the shoppers we serve”.

John Mulgrew, Lenovo’s chief mental property officer, stated in an announcement the choice “reinforces FRAND’s crucial position in facilitating clear and equitable licensing practices for standardized applied sciences”.

InterDigital’s Chief Authorized Officer Josh Schmidt welcomed what he stated was the ruling’s recognition that “a licensee ought to pay in full for the previous infringement of ordinary important patents”.

Nevertheless, he stated in an announcement: “We plan to enchantment, as we imagine that sure elements of the choice don’t precisely replicate our licensing program.”

London-based patent lawyer Mark Marfe, who was not concerned within the case, stated the choice bolstered the Excessive Court docket’s willingness to grant a world FRAND licence.

China is the one different jurisdiction the place courts have set international FRAND charges for so-called commonplace important patents.

Marfe added that “all eyes can be on the Unified Patent Court docket”, a standard patent court docket for European Union member states which opens in June, to see whether or not it takes an identical strategy.

© Thomson Reuters 2023