There has been an update on the OPPO patent dispute case.
On January 8, InterDigital announced that it had won a major lawsuit against OPPO in Germany as part of the company's pursuit of fair and reasonable compensation for patent innovations.
According to the announcement information, the Munich District Court ruled that OPPO infringed InterDigital's 5G patent, that OPPO was not a voluntary licensee and therefore did not act in a FRAND-compliant manner, and that InterDigital should obtain injunctive relief in the German market. InterDigital also said that OPPO does have the right to appeal the verdict.
Among several key points, the Munich judgment once again shows that FRAND licensing is a two-way street. It's not just SEP owners who should move forward with negotiations and show a willingness to license on FRAND terms. The infringer must also clearly demonstrate a willingness to negotiate in good faith, an obligation that OPPO has proven to be sorely lacking in.
In the Munich judgment, which is probably the most crucial part for OPPO, the three-judge panel reiterated that the infringer must unequivocally declare that it is willing to enter into a licensing agreement with the patentee on reasonable and non-discriminatory terms, and must subsequently engage in licensing negotiations in a targeted manner. InterDigital said its negotiations with Oppo have been going on for nearly a decade and that Oppo has not paid a penny for its unauthorized use of the company's patented innovations.
InterDigital said OPPO's track record shows that its main target is latency. As noted in the Munich court decision, "OPPO's lack of response or slow response to InterDigital's offer shows that OPPO is not willing to contribute to real licensing negotiations." According to the Munich court, OPPO "impressively shows in the current lawsuit how patent infringers are holding on by constantly demanding similar licensing agreements, and at the same time, by doing so, trying to hide the fact that they are unwilling to accept a license." ”
In addition, the court also ruled that OPPO's counteroffer was unfair because the price on which it was based was much lower than the price paid by its authorized competitor.
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In September last year, in an invalidation lawsuit filed by Oppo (case number: 4ni 54/22), the German Federal Patent Court upheld the German part of InterDigital's patent ep2 127 420 B1 and restricted it. EP 420 B1 protects the method of controlling discontinuous reception (DRX) in wireless transmit/receive units, which is mainly used in devices such as smartphones. When the user operates the device in DRX mode, the power consumption is reduced.
Shortly before Christmas, the Seventh Civil Chamber of the Munich District Court found that the Oppo and OnePlus products infringed previously restricted patents and ordered the defendants to stop using them, according to German patent media Juve-Patent. This includes the recall of the product, as well as the provision of information and presentation of accounts (Case ID: AZ 7 O 17302/21).
According to Juve-Patent, Oppo said that tests have shown that the devices it sells in Germany do not support the DRX feature in question. However, Oppo argued as a defendant that it was willing to obtain a license, but the price set by InterDigital for the license was too high.
In addition, Oppo and OnePlus referred to the UK High Court's decision in the InterDigital vs. Lenovo dispute in their arguments, which found that InterDigital's 5G deferred offer was not FRAND. As a result, Oppo asked InterDigital to submit other similar licensing agreements. The court dismissed the request on the grounds of sticking to the strategy.
In response, InterDigital said in a January 8 announcement that the UK High Court's ruling was based on an agreement limited to cellular SEP, expiring in 2020, excluding 5G, and because the decision did not include any discussion of German FRAND case law. In addition, InterDigital also said that it has a broader scope of technology licensing with OPPO.
In March 2023, a UK court ordered Lenovo to pay a $138.7 million FRAND rate, while declaring that both parties' previous offers were non-FRAND. This case is the first FRAND decision since the Supreme Court's landmark decision in Unwired Planet v. Huawei.
In the summer of 2022, after the Munich District Court ruled on the dispute over Nokia, Oppo and OnePlus have withdrawn their products from the market.
Source: International Electronic Business Intelligence Comprehensive Report
Editor: Sharon