Litigating Standard-Essential Patents – FORUM Institut für Management GmbH

In 2014, the European Court of Justice rendered a landmark decision in ‘Huawei vs ZTE’. In this decision, the European Court of Justice provided new ground rules for asserting standard essential patents in Europe. Holders of standard-essential patents must now follow a number of practical steps before seeking injunctions. This has an impact on standard-essential patent licensing negotiations.

However, some issues remain to be sorted out. Open questions concern the scope of FRAND, alerts and timing, among others. The requirements for offer and counter-offer need to be specified. Further open questions relate to the restitution clause and to security. Finally, this conference will address the yet to be answered questions concerning account, burden of proof for FRAND and parallel/subsequent litigation.

The panel will present this in a mock trial format. The open FRAND questions will be raised as in a preliminary issue/summary judgement, without facts – there will be only arguments on the law. First, the defendant’s and the plaintiff’s counsels will deliver their arguments.

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