Judgment on FRAND licenses in Sisvel v. Haier by German Bundesgerichtshof
Sisvel v. HAier is a landmark case by the German Bundesgerichtshof on the reach of FRAND licenses on so called Standard-essential Patents (SEP)
Intellectual Property Expert Group
Intellectual Property Expert Group
Category German Patent Litigation
Nokia vs IPCom, ongoing UMTS patent litigation in Germany
Nokia, one of the leading mobile communications suppliers, is further put under pressure in its patent fight against IPCom. Recently, the Finnish company was the losing party in a patent infringement suit before the German regional court LG Mannheim on…
FRANDly Fire
The patent battle between Nokia and German IP asset management firm IPCom illustrates well the lack of practical understanding as to what fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory (or FRAND) licensing terms practically means in Europe. IPEG blogged about this earlier. The…
German Supreme Court widens the door for software patents
The German Supreme Court (BGH) in its recent Siemens application decision[1]will give software patent critics new ammunition to oppose IPRs for software patents. The decision regarding computer-implemented inventions seems to tear down all common (German) barriers for software patents. From…
FRAND, a German View on Dutch Dissent
Netherlands’ The Hague District Court Orange-Book decision brings up again the discussion about the compulsory licensing defense and the role of antitrust in patent infringement proceedings. Opposing’s Germany highest court the Dutch Court denies the possibility of responding with a…
Dutch Court to Differ from German Orange Book Decision
In a combined court case between Philips and SK Kassetten regarding CD- and DVD-technology (CD-R and DVD+R disks), the District Court of The Hague (Netherlands) ruled in favor of Philips, in a case that may revive the discussion about essential…
Texas Forum Shopping – Europe has its share as well
Part of any smart patent litigation strategy is to seek the right venue. This is true for Europe as well as for the US. Among practitioners it is known that Texas is a preferred venue for patent litigation in the…
Independent Invention
Is “independent invention” a cure against trolls in that it can be argued that infringement cannot be established in case of an “independent invention”? No it is not. A lot of confusion, misunderstandings, half-truths, nonsensical quasi-lawerly talk exists around the…
Is Nokia to turn the tables in the standards game?
Lately patent infringing issues arising from implementing standard compliant products are catching the news media, among which in Europe the decision in Orange-Book-Standard by the German Bundesgerichthof (BGH). In the US Nokia sued Apple for producing it top selling iPhone…
Germany Speeds up Patent Proceedings, remaining EU jurisdiction of choice
As of 1st October we see a few but substantial changes in German patent procedural law. Let’s pick the most interesting. Considering the pre-eminent position of Germany as a favourable patent jurisdiction in Europe its no wonder the German Federal…