Comment on 'Huawei Technologies' (C-170/13): Standard Essential Patents and Competition Law - How Far Does the CJEU Decision Go?

摘要

In recent years, standard essential patents (SEPs) have become a recurrent topic in debates on intellectual property rights (IPRs) and competition law. One of the central issues concerns the question of whether and, if so, in what circumstances seeking an injunction by an SEP holder violates the competition rules. On 16 July 2015, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ruled on the awaited case Huawei Technologies, stating that the SEP holder abuses his dominant market position under Art. 102 Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) by seeking an injunction against an alleged infringer, unless he complies with certain requirements prior to it. This case note aims to briefly assess the effects of this decision and indicate which matters remain unsolved.