Texas Court Declares Licensing Offer Based on End Device Is FRAND, Diverges from California Court in Qualcomm

By Stefan M. Meisner, Anthony S. Ferrara & Lisa A. Peterson on June 3, 2019

Standard-essential patent holders and implementers may face uncertainty regarding licensing practices following a May 23 Texas court ruling. In the ruling, a Texas federal judge reached a conclusion different from a recent California court decision—FTC v. Qualcomm—on the question of whether an SEP holder must base its royalty rates on the “smallest salable patent-practicing unit” in order to comply with a fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory royalty commitment. Access the full article.…

Antitrust Alert

Federal Judge Finds Qualcomm Violated the FTC Act Through Monopolistic and Exclusionary Conduct

By Stefan M. Meisner, Lisa A. Peterson & Anthony S. Ferrara on May 23, 2019

On May 21, a California federal judge ruled in favor of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in its suit against Qualcomm in a much-anticipated decision, concluding that Qualcomm violated the FTC Act by maintaining its monopoly position as a modem chip supplier through a number of exclusionary practices, including refusing to license standard essential patents (SEPs) on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory (FRAND) terms. Qualcomm likely will appeal the decision to the US Court of Appeals…

Antitrust Alert

Antitrust M&A Snapshot | US Tackles Vertical Merger Enforcement Guidelines while the EC Blocks 2 Transactions

By Anthony S. Ferrara, Jon B. Dubrow, Joel R. Grosberg, Ryan Leske & David Henry on May 15, 2019

The first quarter of 2019 proved to be as active as ever for antitrust regulators in both the United States and Europe. In the United States, vertical merger enforcement was the focus of a few high-profile matters. The US DOJ has been working on an update to the Non-Horizontal Merger Guidelines, possibly providing clarification for merging parties. Meanwhile in Europe, although the European Commission cleared a number of merger control proceedings with remedies, the European…

Antitrust Alert

Federal Jury Finds that Ericsson’s Licensing Offer to HTC is FRAND

By Stefan M. Meisner, Anthony S. Ferrara & Lisa A. Peterson on February 25, 2019

On February 15, a Texas federal jury found that Ericsson did not breach its obligation to offer HTC licenses to its standard-essential patents (SEPs) on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory (FRAND) terms. The verdict ended a nearly two-year dispute as to whether FRAND obligations preclude a licensing offer based on end products rather than components. Ericsson succeeded in convincing the jury that its FRAND commitment does not require it to base royalty rates for its SEPs…

Antitrust Alert

District Court: IPR Policy Does Not Automatically Require License Fees Based on Components

By Stefan M. Meisner, Lisa A. Peterson & Anthony S. Ferrara on February 12, 2019

The US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas ruled that for the purposes of honoring a fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory (FRAND) commitment, a pool member is not required to base royalties for its standard essential patents (SEPs) on the value of components. HTC America Inc. et al. v. Ericsson Inc., Case No. 6:18-cv-00243-JRG (E.D. Tex. Jan. 7, 2019) (Gilstrap, J). According to the court, Ericsson’s commitment to the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI)…

Antitrust Alert

THE LATEST: FTC Allows Problematic Vertical Merger to Proceed with a Behavioral Remedy

By Jon B. Dubrow & Anthony S. Ferrara on February 5, 2019

On January 28, the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that it had accepted a proposed settlement with office supply distributors Staples and Essendant in connection with Staples’ proposed $482.7 million acquisition of Essendant. The settlement suggests that the FTC is currently more willing than the US Department of Justice (DOJ) to accept conduct remedies to resolve competitive issues raised by vertical mergers. WHAT HAPPENED: The FTC Commissioners voted 3-2 to accept a proposed settlement…

Anthony S. Ferrara

Texas Court Declares Licensing Offer Based on End Device Is FRAND, Diverges from California Court in Qualcomm

Federal Judge Finds Qualcomm Violated the FTC Act Through Monopolistic and Exclusionary Conduct

Antitrust M&A Snapshot | US Tackles Vertical Merger Enforcement Guidelines while the EC Blocks 2 Transactions

Federal Jury Finds that Ericsson’s Licensing Offer to HTC is FRAND

District Court: IPR Policy Does Not Automatically Require License Fees Based on Components

THE LATEST: FTC Allows Problematic Vertical Merger to Proceed with a Behavioral Remedy

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