Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. has told the European Commission that it will limit attempts to enjoin infringers of its standard-essential patents for five years in exchange for the EC’s ending an antitrust investigation into the company’s assertion of its patents rights against Apple Inc. The Commission believes that Samsung sought to enjoin Apple, even though […]
Category Archives: Standard Setting
Samsung Pledges to EU that It Will Use Circumspection in Seeking Injunctions for Infringement of Standard Essential Patents
October 31, 2013 – 3:50 pm
FTC & Google Enter Consent Decree on Patent Issues
February 11, 2013 – 10:32 am
The FTC has expressed concerns that Google’s Motorola Mobility subsidiary had violated Section 5 of the FTC Act by attempting to enjoin the users of patents that are essential to produce standardized technology. In the decree, Google agreed to license those patents on fair, reasonable and nondiscriminatory (FRAND) terms and refrain from seeking injunctive relief […]
DOJ Concerned About The Exploitation of Standard-essential Technology Patents Through Unfair Licensing Strategies
January 24, 2013 – 10:36 am
Fiona M. Scott-Morton, the Antitrust Division’s Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Economic Analysis claimed in a recent speech entitled “The Role of Standards in the Current Patent Wars” that companies controlling patents that are essential to an established technological standard can often charge anticompetitively high licensing rates despite their commitments to follow fair, reasonable and […]
Court Refuses to Dismiss Antitrust Suit Over Mobile Tracking Technology
December 7, 2012 – 5:37 pm
In TruePosition Inc. v. LM Ericsson Telephone Co. et al., Eastern District of Pennsylvania Judge Robert F. Kelly refused to dismiss TruePosition Inc.’s antitrust suit against Qualcomm Inc., LM Ericsson Telephone Co., and Alcatel-Lucent SA. TruePosition accused the defendants of conspiring to use their influence within two standard setting organizations (SSOs), the European Telecommunication Standards […]
First Circuit Dismisses Antitrust Claims Against Three HMOs, Holding Them Incapable of Collusion
September 20, 2012 – 3:35 pm
In Gonzalez-Maldonado et al v. MMM Health Care Inc. et al., the First Circuit Court of Appeals rejected antitrust claims filed by two Puerto Rico doctors against three HMOs, which cut ties with the doctors over disputed payments. In dismissing the antitrust claims, the court held that the three HMOs are incapable of collusion because […]
Breach of SSO Commitment Enforceable By Competitors, but Not as Antitrust Violation
September 11, 2012 – 10:35 am
In Apple Inc. v. Motorola Mobility Inc., Western District of Wisconsin Judge Barbara B. Crabb granted summary judgment against Apple on antitrust claims, but allowed its contract claims to stand, in a case alleging that Motorola Mobility refused to license its standard-essential patents on fair, reasonable and nondiscriminatory terms. Although Motorola’s commitments to standard-setting organizations […]
Microsoft Loses Bid to Overturn EU Fine
July 2, 2012 – 4:38 pm
The European Commission fined Microsoft a $1.1 billion dollars for abusing its dominant position in the operating system market. Microsoft challenged the fine, but the EU General Court upheld it, requiring the software giant to license on reasonable terms interoperability data needed by firms writing programs that would be compatible with Windows. The decision bolsters […]
En Banc Federal Circuit Narrows Patent Misuse Defense
May 31, 2011 – 3:38 pm
Update May 2011: The U.S. Supreme Court has denied certiorari. In a divided opinion, the en banc Federal Circuit has overturned a panel opinion that hadpermitted Princo to assert a patent misuse defense to a patent infringement action filed by Philips. Princo alleged that Philips had agreed with Sony not to license the relevant patent […]
Attack on MPEG Patent Pool Dismissed
December 14, 2010 – 1:39 pm
Update December 2010: The court again dismissed the complaint, holding that Nero’s amended complaint still failed to allege sufficient facts to back up its allegations. Nero asserted that it would appeal the decision. Central District of CA Judge Mariana Pfaelzer dismissed Nero AG’s monopolization case against the MPEG video compression technology patent for failing to […]
Standard Setting Abuse Case to Move Forward
November 11, 2010 – 12:50 pm
Eastern District of Texas Judge Leonard Davis refused to dismiss Encore Wire Corp’s claim that competitor Southwire Inc. violated California state antitrust laws by lobbying for an industry standard without disclosing that it owned a patent that would be infringed by wire conforming to the standard. Southwire sought dismissal on the ground that the statute […]