Unwired Planet: Impact on Global FRAND Litigation and Negotiations
- 9.30.2020 | 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
In August, after the UK Supreme Court issued its decision in Unwired Planet and Conversant cases, the ruling was heralded by some observers as “a major victory” for SEP owners everywhere. The Court confirmed that English courts can set globally-applicable FRAND licensing rates, can issue UK-wide FRAND injunctions after a finding of infringement, and also that SEP owners don’t need to offer the same royalty rate to similarly situated implementers. British lawyers, suffering headwinds from Brexit, were jubilant at the prospect of London becoming a global hotspot for FRAND litigation.
But nothing in FRAND is simple, and the world after Unwired Planet is dauntingly uncertain. This webinar from the Intellectual Property Owners Association brings together litigators from the US, China and Germany, as well as a global SEP owner, to consider the likely behavior of courts and litigants outside of London. Partner Tim Syrett will be one of the speakers.
Among the topics they will discuss:
- If litigation in London results in high royalty rates, will companies just leave the UK market?
- Going forward, will other courts seek to set global FRAND licenses even in the absence of the parties’ agreement to a global determination?
- Will some foreign courts react hostilely to London’s breach of territoriality?
- Unwired Planet relies heavily on the particulars of the FRAND policy of ETSI. How much weight would its findings have for a court, whether in the UK or elsewhere, assessing participants’ obligations under FRAND policies adopted by different SSOs?
- The likely rise in the use of international anti-suit injunctions, where a court in one jurisdiction tries to prevent a party from pursuing litigation in another jurisdiction
