Lenovo must pay US patent owner InterDigital $138.7 million to settle a longstanding licensing dispute over the use of technology deemed essential to 3G, 4G and 5G communications. not.
of decisionA ruling handed down by London High Court Judge James Mellor on Thursday requires Chinese OEMs to pay InterDigital a lump sum payment for all past and future device sales through the end of the year, while Lenovo’s Executives viewed it as a victory.
“Lenovo thanks the court for its decision on InterDigital v. Lenovo. We believe this is a major win for the technology industry and the customers we serve.” statement.
While this seems like a strange reaction for someone ordered to pay a large sum of cash, InterDigital was hoping to extract even more, $337 million, from Lenovo over a six-year license. . However, as Mellor concludes, previous settlement attempts by the parties have not been subject to the fair, reasonable, non-discrimination (FRAND) rule.
The patent in question is subject to FRAND because it is essential to cellular communications as we know it. FRAND requires IP holders to license their technology for a fair fee. And that’s exactly what Lenovo claimed InterDigital failed.
“Based on the results of our comparative analysis, we find that neither InterDigital’s extended 5G offer nor Lenovo’s one-time payment offer are FRAND and are not within FRAND,” Mellor wrote in the judgment.
The decision marks the end of the sixth trial between InterDigital and Lenovo. His first five of these trials were technical in nature, but the most recent ones focused entirely on fair licensing terms, according to court documents.
The trial may be over, but the legal battle may not be over anytime soon.Josh Schmidt, chief legal officer of InterDigital, welcomed the court’s ruling, saying, “The first major SEP FRAND decision to pay But welcoming the decision and agreeing with all of Judge Mellor’s conclusions seem to be two very different things.
“We plan to appeal because we believe certain aspects of the decision do not accurately reflect our licensing program,” Schmidt said in a statement. statement.
If all of this sounds oddly familiar, it’s because InterDigital has been at the center of more than its share of patent lawsuits. covered Over the years. They include a number of notable cases involving Nokia and its then-owners Microsoft, Huawei, Samsung, and others. ®
