Unwired Planet International Ltd v Huawei Technologies Co Ltd & Ors

Unwired Planet International Ltd v Huawei Technologies Co Ltd & Ors

The patents are invalid for obviousness over the Qualcomm document. The skilled team, motivated by the Qualcomm proposal, would implement the claimed invention as an obvious development, balancing signalling and reporting burdens. The invention does not involve an inventive step. Arguments on sufficiency, added matter, and clarity do not affect the outcome as all claims are found obvious.

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 January 2016
Procedural Posture
Patent Infringement and Validity / Judgment After Technical Trial (trial B) in Patents Court
Outcome
Patents found invalid for obviousness; patents revoked.
Legal Topics
Patent Validity, Obviousness, Sufficiency, Added Matter, Clarity of Claims, Telecommunications Standards, Standard Essential Patents (seps)
Intellectual Property Patents Patent Validity Obviousness Sufficiency Added Matter Clarity of Claims Telecommunications Standards +1 more

Case Brief

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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 Validity / Judgment After Technical Trial (trial B) in Patents Court

Legal Issues

  1. 1 Whether Unwired Planet's patents EP 2 119 287 and EP 2 485 514 are valid (obviousness, sufficiency, added matter, clarity)
  2. 2 Whether Huawei and Samsung infringe the patents by implementing LTE standard (3GPP TS 36.300)

Ratio Decidendi

The patents are invalid for obviousness over the Qualcomm document. The skilled team, motivated by the Qualcomm proposal, would implement the claimed invention as an obvious development, balancing signalling and reporting burdens. The invention does not involve an inventive step. Arguments on sufficiency, added matter, and clarity do not affect the outcome as all claims are found obvious.

Court Disposition

Patents found invalid for obviousness; patents revoked.

Orders

  • EP 2 119 287 and EP 2 485 514 are revoked for lack of inventive step (obviousness).