Interdigital Technology Corp v Lenovo Group Ltd

Interdigital Technology Corp v Lenovo Group Ltd

A new Specified Persons confidentiality tier is necessary and appropriate to allow Lenovo meaningful participation in the FRAND trial, subject to strict limitations including two named Lenovo personnel, a 5-year licensing bar, and no read-only restriction. Anonymised Schedule 2 data remains General Confidential Information at this stage, but weighted average figures and certain expert report extracts may be designated non-confidential. The balance of justice requires some relaxation of confidentiality but not to the extent of removing all protections for counterparties' commercial information.

Parties
Claimant: InterDigital Technology Corporation; Claimant: InterDigital Patent Holdings, Inc.; Claimant: InterDigital, Inc.; Claimant: InterDigital Holdings, Inc.; Defendant: Lenovo Group Limited; Defendant: Lenovo (United States) Inc.; Defendant: Lenovo Technology (United Kingdom) Limited; Defendant: Motorola Mobility LLC; Defendant: Motorola Mobility UK Limited
Jurisdiction
England and Wales
Judgment Date
26 November 2021
Procedural Posture
Intellectual Property Patents / Pre Trial Review (ptr) Ahead of FRAND Trial
Outcome
Application granted in part
Legal Topics
FRAND Licensing, Confidentiality Regimes, Patent Licence Agreements, Disclosure in Litigation
Intellectual Property Law Confidentiality Civil Procedure FRAND Licensing Confidentiality Regimes Patent Licence Agreements Disclosure in Litigation

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 10 Party arguments 2
Sign in to unlock

Parties

InterDigital Technology Corporation

Claimant

InterDigital Patent Holdings, Inc.

Claimant

InterDigital, Inc.

Claimant

InterDigital Holdings, Inc.

Claimant

Lenovo Group Limited

Defendant

Lenovo (United States) Inc.

Defendant

Lenovo Technology (United Kingdom) Limited

Defendant

Motorola Mobility LLC

Defendant

Motorola Mobility UK Limited

Defendant

Procedural Posture

Intellectual Property Patents / Pre Trial Review (ptr) Ahead of FRAND Trial

Legal Issues

  1. 1 Whether to establish a new confidentiality tier for disclosure of patent licence agreements and related information to Lenovo personnel
  2. 2 Appropriate designation of anonymised royalty data and expert report extracts for confidentiality purposes
  3. 3 Balancing open justice and natural justice against commercial confidentiality interests

Ratio Decidendi

A new Specified Persons confidentiality tier is necessary and appropriate to allow Lenovo meaningful participation in the FRAND trial, subject to strict limitations including two named Lenovo personnel, a 5-year licensing bar, and no read-only restriction. Anonymised Schedule 2 data remains General Confidential Information at this stage, but weighted average figures and certain expert report extracts may be designated non-confidential. The balance of justice requires some relaxation of confidentiality but not to the extent of removing all protections for counterparties' commercial information.

Court Disposition

Application granted in part

Orders

  • A new Specified Persons confidentiality tier is established for two named Lenovo personnel, subject to a 5-year licensing bar and undertakings.
  • No read-only restriction is imposed on the Specified Persons.