InterDigital sues Lenovo over SEPs after ‘decade’ of talks fail
InterDigital has sued Lenovo, the Chinese owner of the Motorola brand, for infringing a number of its standard-essential patents (SEPs) in telecommunications.
The research company said that the lawsuits, filed at the English High Court and at the US District Court for the District of Delaware yesterday, August 28, followed a “decade of negotiations”.
According to InterDigital, offers had been made to license the patents on fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory (FRAND) terms, and complied fully with its FRAND obligations as a member of the European Technological Standards Institute (ETSI).
But, the suit said, the parties were “unable to agree to a negotiated license on FRAND terms and conditions”.
In the English lawsuit, InterDigital asserted four European patents related to 4G and wireless communications (numbers 2363008; 2557714; 2485558; and 2421318).
William Merritt, InterDigital president and CEO, said that the company had chosen the English High Court as it had a “history of examining standard-essential patent issues”, adding that he was “hopeful for a speedy resolution and a fair licence”.
The company said it was seeking an injunction of the same type issued by the English High Court in Unwired Planet v Huawei in April 2017.
Speaking to WIPR last year, lawyers said that the ruling in favour of Unwired against the Chinese telecoms giant, would have a “far-reaching impact”.
That appears to have come to pass, as InterDigital seeks a similar ruling that would set out the terms of a worldwide FRAND licence.
Should the court issue such a ruling, and Lenovo rejected the terms of the licence, the court could then issue an injunction barring further infringement of the patents in the UK.
In the US complaint, InterDigital said it had made “extensive efforts” to negotiate a worldwide FRAND licence with Lenovo, and had also agreed to arbitration as an alternative to litigation.
In that suit, InterDigital asserted eight patents covering wireless communications.
InterDigital asked the US court to issue a declaration that it had complied with its FRAND obligations, as well as compensatory damages for infringement of its patents.
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