US judge sinks Samsung’s ‘Wuhan submarine’
A Texas federal judge has issued an anti-interference injunction against Samsung, handing a win to Ericsson in a dispute over telecoms patent royalties.
Samsung is suing Ericsson at a court in Wuhan, China, and has asked the Chinese court to set a global royalty rate for Ericsson’s 4G and 5G standard-essential patents (SEPs) on fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory (FRAND) terms.
The Korean telecommunications company also obtained an anti-suit injunction (ASI) from the Wuhan court, a manoeuvre subsequently dubbed as a ‘Wuhan submarine’, blocking Ericsson from litigating the claims elsewhere.
The Texas court yesterday, January 11, granted Ericsson an anti-interference injunction, which orders Samsung to: “take no action in the Chinese action that would interfere with this court’s jurisdiction to determine whether Ericsson or Samsung have met or breached their FRAND obligations as they relate to both Ericsson and Samsung’s 4G and 5G SEPs, or that would interfere with any other cause of action before this court.”
The court also instructed Samsung to indemnify Ericsson against any fines levied by the Wuhan court as a penalty for breaching its ASI, where those penalties concern “actions Ericsson has taken or takes in the future in the US to lawfully litigate or adjudicate claims relating to the 4G and 5G SEPs identified or involved in this case”.
Gilstrap declined to order Samsung to supply Ericsson with copies of the documents it has filed in the Wuhan case, as requested by the Swedish technology company.
In an opinion outlining his reasons for granting the order, Judge Rodney Gilstrap said his objective was to ensure both the Texas and Chinese lawsuits could continue in parallel, and not interfere with the jurisdiction of the Wuhan court.
“This court is not instructing Samsung that it cannot continue to prosecute its claims in the Wuhan court nor is this court seeking to enjoin the furtherance of that proceeding. This court believes it must act for the targeted purpose of allowing both suits to proceed without interference,” Gilstrap wrote.
According to the judge, Ericsson would be at a severe disadvantage in the case if the injunction was not granted.
“If Samsung can seek redress of its claims through injunctive relief in the United States, it would be the height of inequity (and hypocrisy) to allow the ASI to tie Ericsson’s hands from doing the same,” Gilstrap said, adding that the global dispute should be “resolved on the merits and not based on unfair economic leverage gained through litigious gamesmanship”.
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