Unwired Planet v Huawei, Conversant v Huawei & ZTE: UK Supreme Court confirms Global FRAND licensing

摘要

1. The UK Supreme Court upheld the decision of the Court of Appeal in both Unwired Planet v Huawei and Conversant v Huawei & ZTE.2. The Supreme Court confirmed that English courts have jurisdiction to set the terms of a global fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory (FRAND) licence and grant an injunction preventing further infringement of UK standard essential patents if an imple-menter does not accept those terms.3. The Supreme Court also confirmed that the 'non-discrimination' limb of the FRAND obligation does not prevent SEP holders from offering lower rates to some licensees and that failure to follow the negotiation framework established in Huawei v ZTE will not automatically result in an abuse of dominance finding.4. The Supreme Court's findings mean that the English courts remain a favourable jurisdiction to resolve global FRAND disputes, although it remains to be seen whether other courts will be similarly willing to settle global terms.