This week on MIP: Philips beats One Plus, Mickey Mouse goes public

January 05 2024

We provide a rundown of Managing IP’s news and analysis coverage from the week, and review what’s been happening elsewhere in IP

Philips wins $6.9m SEP order against One Plus in India

One Plus must deposit ₹53.5 crores ($6.9 million) as interim security while its standard-essential patent dispute with Philips plays out in India, the Delhi High Court has ruled.

Justice Jyoti Singh passed the order on December 20 after she found that Philips had prima facie established the essentiality of 5 of its 3G and 4G SEPs and demonstrated infringement through claim chart mapping.

Click here to read the full story.

Elsewhere in IP

Nokia-Honor pact

Nokia has signed a patent cross-licensing agreement with Chinese smartphone maker Honor for 5G and other cellular tech, the companies confirmed on Thursday, January 4.

Susanna Martikainen, chief licensing officer for mobile devices at Nokia, said: "This is the fourth major litigation-free smartphone agreement that Nokia has concluded over the past twelve months, and highlights once again the strength of Nokia’s patent portfolio and decades-long contributions to cellular standards and other technologies.”

Nokia has also signed deals with Huawei, Apple, and Samsung over the last twelve months but remains locked in a long-running dispute with Oppo.

GenAI battles

The New York Times has accused Microsoft and OpenAI of infringing its copyright to train their artificial intelligence systems in a lawsuit filed late last month.

The newspaper filed the complaint at the District Court for the Southern District of New York on December 27.

It is the latest in a series of high-profile legal battles over generative AI and copyright. Stock image provider Getty has also sued Stability AI, the owner of the Stable Diffusion system, in the UK.

Brief infringement

Boston-based firm Hsuanyeh Law Group sued Winston & Strawn for allegedly copying one of its briefs last month.

Hsuanyeh filed a suit for copyright infringement at the District Court for the Southern District of New York on December 26, claiming Winstron & Strawn had copied its motion “nearly verbatim”.

According to the complaint, Hsuanyeh registered its brief with the US Copyright Office on August 30 2023.

CIPA's UPC goal

Matt Dixon began work as the new president of the UK-based Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys on January 1, replacing Daniel Chew.

Dixon, a consultant at Cranach Patent Attorneys, said he would prioritise the promotion of UK attorneys at the Unified Patent Court.

He said: “The position of UK attorneys as representatives before the UPC is a huge opportunity for members to increase their activities and influence in Europe."

Mickey Mouse goes public

An early version of Disney’s Mickey Mouse character has passed into the public domain after copyright for the 1928 film 'Steamboat Willie' expired on Monday, January 1.

But Disney has warned that later versions of the mouse remain protected.

"We will, of course, continue to protect our rights in the more modern versions of Mickey Mouse and other works that remain subject to copyright," the company said.

Copyright: for humans only

South Korea won’t grant copyright protection to AI-generated content created without human intervention, the country’s Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism announced on Wednesday, December 27.

According to the ministry, registration is only possible for creations that convey human thoughts and emotions.

The policy formed part of the ministry’s new "AI copyright guidebook", which also stipulates that AI companies must fairly compensate copyright owners for using their work.