Apple decries Ericsson’s ‘coercive’ SEP negotiation
Apple has sued Ericsson in a Texas Federal court, claiming that the telecom giant used “strong-arm tactics” to impede Apple ahead of negotiations to renew standard-essential patent (SEP) licencing deals.
In a redacted complaint filed with the US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas on Friday, December 17, Apple claims that Ericsson has “ignored” terms of prior agreements and contracts in order to get Apple to sign a new agreement based on its “sticker prices” for SEP licencing.
Apple and Ericsson signed a seven-year license agreement to resolve worldwide SEP litigation over fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory (FRAND) licensing deals in December 2015. The agreement is set to expire before the new year.
According to Apple, that agreement held that the parties could not sue each other for the duration of the seven-year period.
But in September 2021, Ericsson “secretly” went to court in the Netherlands and “misrepresented Apple’s past conduct” in order to obtain a temporary order that prevented Apple from seeking judicial protection against Ericsson in licensing negotiations, Apple claims.
When Ericsson served Apple the order allowing the consumer tech giant to represent itself before the Dutch court, it appeared before the court to “correct” the case over its conduct. The court then lifted the temporary order and denied Ericsson any subsequent attempts to have it reinstated.
In October, Ericsson sent Apple its FRAND offer, which Apple contest was “merely a summary of Ericsson’s publicly demanded license rates” and then sued Apple in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas “six minutes later”, accusing Apple of being “unwilling” to agree to Ericson’s terms.
The complaint said: “Ericsson sued rather than negotiate in good faith with Apple because Ericsson is trying to coerce Apple to pay excessive future royalties in breach of Ericsson’s binding FRAND commitments.”
In response, Apple proposed that the parties extend the terms of the 2015 license agreement, with limited revisions, and if FRAND terms cannot be agreed upon, arbitrators can set the terms.
Now, Apple asks the Texas court to declare that Ericsson is liable for breach of the 2015 agreement and FRAND commitments, to issue FRAND terms or a license agreement based on the 2015 agreement.
Alongside this, Apple has also petitioned the court to rule that three of Ericsson’s 5G SEP patents are not essential to the 5G standard and that Apple does not infringe them.
Did you enjoy reading this story? Sign up to our free daily newsletters and get stories sent like this straight to your inbox
Today’s top stories
Nigeria: will franchising your business jeopardise your brand?
