InterDigital scores third SEP win in Lenovo fight

The England and Wales Court of Appeal reinstated an InterDigital-owned patent on appeal in a blow to Lenovo, today, February 9.

The judgment overturned an earlier ruling by the High Court’s Mr Justice James Mellor, who found the InterDigital 3G patent invalid as obvious in January 2022.

According to Lord Justice Richard Arnold’s lead opinion, Mellor was “beguiled by a sleight of hand” in one of Lenovo’s arguments and accepted an incorrect claim interpretation.

The appeal concerned a document cited by Lenovo during its cross-examination of InterDigital’s expert witness.

An answer from the witness to a particular question from Lenovo led Mellor to find that InterDigital’s claims lacked novelty.

But Lenovo’s question evaded the key issue that Mellor should have focused on instead, InterDigital successfully argued on appeal.

It was a minor issue that received little attention during the High Court trial, Arnold said.

Mellor’s mistake was understandable given the number of issues he had to deal with, Arnold added.

Today’s judgment is the latest in a series of wins for InterDigital in the dispute, and the second at the Court of Appeal in the last month.

“This latest UK court victory, our third in a matter of weeks, serves as further confirmation of the quality of our patented innovations,” said Josh Schmidt, chief legal officer at InterDigital.

Mellor’s judgment in the FRAND trial, which concluded last February, is currently pending and is one of the year's most keenly anticipated UK patent judgments.