Unwired Planet International Ltd v Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd & Anor

Unwired Planet International Ltd v Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd & Anor

The judge held that, subject to specific exceptions, the commercial licensing information sought to be redacted would, if published, materially weaken the competitive position of the relevant party, particularly licensors, and that this harm was a sufficiently powerful reason to justify redaction. The public can understand the reasoning and outcome without the specific figures, and the interference with competitive position outweighs the open justice principle in these circumstances.

Parties
Claimant: Unwired Planet International Ltd; Defendant: Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd; Defendant: Huawei Technologies (UK) Co. Ltd; Tenth Party: Unwired Planet LLC; Eleventh Party: Telefonaktiebolaget Ericsson
Jurisdiction
England and Wales
Judgment Date
30 November 2017
Procedural Posture
Patent/competition Law / Post Trial Judgment on Confidentiality of Main Judgment
Outcome
Redactions to the main judgment largely allowed, with specific exceptions; public judgment to be issued with redactions as determined.
Legal Topics
Confidentiality of Judgments, FRAND Licensing, Patent Licensing, Open Justice, Redaction of Commercial Information
Intellectual Property Competition Law Civil Procedure Confidentiality of Judgments FRAND Licensing Patent Licensing Open Justice Redaction of Commercial Information

Case Brief

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Parties

Unwired Planet International Ltd

Claimant

Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd

Defendant

Huawei Technologies (UK) Co. Ltd

Defendant

Unwired Planet LLC

Tenth Party

Telefonaktiebolaget Ericsson

Eleventh Party

Procedural Posture

Patent/competition Law / Post Trial Judgment on Confidentiality of Main Judgment

Legal Issues

  1. 1 Whether commercial licensing information in the main judgment should be redacted from the public version
  2. 2 Whether the interests of licensors/licensees and third parties justify redaction
  3. 3 How open justice principles apply to FRAND/competition law cases

Ratio Decidendi

The judge held that, subject to specific exceptions, the commercial licensing information sought to be redacted would, if published, materially weaken the competitive position of the relevant party, particularly licensors, and that this harm was a sufficiently powerful reason to justify redaction. The public can understand the reasoning and outcome without the specific figures, and the interference with competitive position outweighs the open justice principle in these circumstances.

Court Disposition

Redactions to the main judgment largely allowed, with specific exceptions; public judgment to be issued with redactions as determined.

Orders

  • Redactions to commercial licensing information in the main judgment are allowed as set out in this judgment, with specific exceptions detailed in paragraphs 34-46.
  • The public form of the main judgment will be issued as [2017] EWHC 3083 (Pat) with redactions.