Lenovo was ordered to pay $138.7 million in patent licensing fees to InterDigital, an American company, which said it would appeal.
Beijing, March 17 (Xinhua) Lenovo must pay $138.7 million (960 million yuan) to the US technology company InterDigital to license the latter's telecommunications patent portfolio, the High Court in London ruled on Thursday. This is the latest round of verdicts in a long-running dispute between the two sides.
Tuyuan PexelsInterDigital filed a lawsuit against Lenovo in 2019 over a dispute over patent licensing terms, which are standard essential patents for 3G, 4G and 5G. So far, the lawsuit has been tried five times independently, focusing on the fair, reasonable and non-discrimination (FRAND) provisions of InterDigital patent licensing.
Judge James James Mellor said in a written ruling on Thursday that previous offers made by Lenovo and InterDigital did not comply with FRAND terms. InterDigital offered to grant Lenovo a six-year patent license at a cost of $337 million. Mr Mailer said Lenovo should make an one-time payment of $138.7 million to cover past and future mobile device sales from 2007 to the end of 2023.
Lenovo said the ruling was "a major victory for the technology industry and the customers we serve". John Mulgrew, Lenovo's chief intellectual property officer, said in a statement that the decision "strengthens the key role of FRAND in promoting transparent and fair licensing practices for standardized technologies".
Josh Schmidt, InterDigital's chief legal officer, said he welcomed the ruling's recognition that "the licensee should pay full compensation for past violations of standard basic patents." However, he said in a statement: "We plan to appeal because we believe that some aspects of the decision do not accurately reflect our authorization plan."
Mark Marfe, a London patent lawyer who was not involved in the case, said the ruling strengthened the willingness of the London High Court to grant a global FRAND licence. Marv added that "all eyes will be focused on the European Union uniform Patent Court". This is a common patent court for EU member states, which will be opened in June to see if it will take a similar approach.
