End 15 years of disputes! IPCom and HTC signed a patent licensing agreement

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| Intellectual Property Information for the World's Elite |

IPCom and HTC signed a licensing agreement to settle a dispute over a standard-essential patent, ending a series of lawsuits in Germany, the United Kingdom and Europe that began in 2007.

According to Juve Patent, IPCom recently announced that HTC has signed a licensing agreement covering all of its assets. IPCom has more than 200 patent families involving mobile communications and has registered more than 1,000 patents in Europe, the United States and Asia.

The two companies have yet to release financial details of the agreement, which ended their patent lawsuit. The lawsuit between the parties began in 2007, when IPCom sued Nokia and HTC for infringement. Subsequently, IPCom filed a lawsuit against Apple, Samsung and other mobile phone manufacturers in Germany. It is understood that IPCom attempted to enforce Bosch's previous UMTS patents.

In 2017, the UK Court of Appeal banned HTC from selling equipment in the UK. At the same time, the Court confirmed a solution. As a result of the judgment, HTC agreed to sell only mobile phones where the workaround was implemented.

Around the same time, IPCom also stepped up pressure on some German handset makers, suing companies such as HTC over Hitachi's product portfolio.

IPCom purchased patents for the phones from Hitachi in 2008 and has since been marketed by the Frohwitter Intellectual Property Office (FIPA).

Recently, the FIPA lawsuit against HTC is pending in the Regional and High District Court in Düsseldorf, Germany. HTC and other companies filed invalidation lawsuits in federal court against the patents in question.

In addition, HTC and IPCom continue to fight each other in opposition and appeal cases at the European Patent Office.

The report notes that since ipcom's previously purchased patents in Bosch and Hitachi have expired, the recent infringement lawsuits have been mainly for damages.

The potential repayment risks of years of litigation and the change in the management of the two companies led to a settlement 15 years later.

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