Unwired Planet International Ltd v Huawei Technologies Co Ltd & Ors

Unwired Planet International Ltd v Huawei Technologies Co Ltd & Ors

The court declined to transfer the competition law aspects to the CAT because the contractual FRAND issues are legally distinct and cannot be transferred under the relevant legislation. Splitting the issues would create impractical division and confusion given their interrelationship. No positive reason was found to disturb the status quo of the case proceeding in the High Court.

Parties
Claimant: Unwired Planet International Limited; Defendant: Huawei Technologies Co., Limited; Defendant: Huawei Technologies (UK) Co., Limited; Defendant: Samsung Electronics Co., Limited; Defendant: Samsung Electronics (UK) Limited; Ninth Party: Unwired Planet, Inc.; Tenth Party: Unwired Planet LLC; Eleventh Party: Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson
Jurisdiction
England and Wales
Judgment Date
29 April 2016
Procedural Posture
Patent Infringement and Competition Law / Ruling on Application to Transfer Competition Law Aspects to Competition Appeal Tribunal
Outcome
Application to transfer competition law aspects to CAT declined
Legal Topics
Patent Infringement, FRAND Licensing, Competition Appeal Tribunal Jurisdiction, Standard Essential Patents, ETSI IPR Policy, Transfer of Proceedings
Intellectual Property Competition Law Contract Law Patent Infringement FRAND Licensing Competition Appeal Tribunal Jurisdiction Standard Essential Patents ETSI IPR Policy +1 more

Case Brief

Summary, issues, holding and outcome

More case intelligence is available

Unlock the full research layer for this judgment.

Full judgment text Downloadable case file Legal principles 4 Authorities cited 11 Party arguments 2 Amounts and remedies 1
Sign in to unlock

Parties

Unwired Planet International Limited

Claimant

Huawei Technologies Co., Limited

Defendant

Huawei Technologies (UK) Co., Limited

Defendant

Samsung Electronics Co., Limited

Defendant

Samsung Electronics (UK) Limited

Defendant

Unwired Planet, Inc.

Ninth Party

Unwired Planet LLC

Tenth Party

Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson

Eleventh Party

Procedural Posture

Patent Infringement and Competition Law / Ruling on Application to Transfer Competition Law Aspects to Competition Appeal Tribunal

Legal Issues

  1. 1 Whether competition law aspects of the case should be transferred to the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT)
  2. 2 Whether contractual FRAND issues can be transferred to the CAT
  3. 3 Whether splitting competition law and contractual issues between CAT and High Court is practical

Ratio Decidendi

The court declined to transfer the competition law aspects to the CAT because the contractual FRAND issues are legally distinct and cannot be transferred under the relevant legislation. Splitting the issues would create impractical division and confusion given their interrelationship. No positive reason was found to disturb the status quo of the case proceeding in the High Court.

Court Disposition

Application to transfer competition law aspects to CAT declined

Orders

  • No transfer to the Competition Appeal Tribunal
  • Case to proceed in the High Court