Lenovo infringed InterDigital 4G patent, Court of Appeal rules

Chinese device maker Lenovo infringed a valid InterDigital patent essential to the LTE standard, the England and Wales Court of Appeal ruled yesterday, January 19.

The ruling, which has yet to be published online, is part of a long-running dispute between the parties over access to InterDigital’s 4G SEP portfolio. It upholds an earlier finding made by the England and Wales High Court in July 2021.

“We welcome this decision from the Court of Appeal which comes as further evidence of the foundational nature of our innovation and the quality and strength of our patent portfolio,” said Josh Schmidt, chief legal officer at InterDigital.

A judgment in a separate High Court trial, which seeks to determine a fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory (FRAND) royalty for the patents, is pending.

At the FRAND trial, which took place in February 2022, Mr Justice James Mellor denied InterDigital’s request for an injunction that would have barred Lenovo from selling infringing devices in the UK until the case was finalised.

A determination on a FRAND rate is expected this year. The highly anticipated judgment will be seen as a test of the UK’s merits as a rate-setting jurisdiction.

The UK is considered to be a more favourable venue for patent owners than other jurisdictions, such as China.

In 2020, the UK Supreme Court issued the landmark Unwired Planet judgment, which said UK courts had the right to set global FRAND royalties.