The result
Courts begin to define what is reasonable
The impact
Telecoms companies will finally find out what all those patents are worth
Apple, Samsung, Microsoft, HTC, Nokia, Google, Ericsson ... the smartphone patent wars have sucked in almost the entire telecoms industry. The battles are being fought on many fronts, but the cavalry is standard-essential patents (SEPs) – either developed or (in the case of Google and Apple) expensively acquired.
In an industry where products incorporate many thousands of patented features, and interoperability is key, SEPs can be very lucrative. But concerns about over-claiming have led to disputes as to their validity, essentiality and above all what is a fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory (FRAND) licence.
Now judges are being asked to step in. In Karlsruhe, Germany, a court stayed an injunction granted to Motorola against Apple, as Apple had offered to take a licence. Last month, in Seattle, a judge heard a case between Motorola and Microsoft over WLAN and Blu-Ray patents. With more decisions due next year, at long last we may finally fathom out FRAND.
This case was selected as one of Managing IP’s Cases of the Year for 2012.
To see the rest, click on one of the cases below.
The 10 cases of the year
A fillip for the EU pharmaceutical sector
Relief for trade mark owners in red sole saga
Australian TV streaming service held to be illegal
Smartphone war hits front page in the US
Liberalising the EU’s software market
Victory for fair dealing in Canada
Lacoste loses its trade mark in China
Google prevails in Android attack
EU test case clarifies class headings
Ten you might have missed
Canada: Ambiguous claims can invalidate patents
Russia: Certainty on parallel imports
Italy: TV formats win copyright for the first time
First FRAND cases litigated worldwide
Data exclusivity backed by Mexican courts
China: A shift over OEM manufacturing
Authors in the US able to reclaim joint copyrights
