Samsung Electronics on Wednesday won a ruling from London’s High Court in its attempt to get an interim licence to use ZTE’s patents, in the English leg of the firms’ global licensing dispute over mobile phone patents.
English courts have recently permitted parties to pursue short-term patent licences pending trial, including in Amazon’s dispute with Nokia and Lenovo’s battle with Ericsson, before both ultimately settled.
Wednesday’s ruling, though, is the first time in England that a court of first instance – the initial court where a case is heard – has made such an interim licence declaration.
Disputes over the fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory (FRAND) terms of a patent licence have frequently led to global legal battles in the telecom industry.
English courts can set global FRAND terms, following a landmark 2020 UK Supreme Court ruling, as can courts in China.
Samsung sued ZTE in London in December 2024 seeking a determination of FRAND terms, with ZTE bringing parallel lawsuits against Samsung in China, Germany and Brazil.
In London, Samsung sought a declaration that a willing licensor in ZTE’s position would agree to an interim licence until FRAND terms were decided by the court.
Both Samsung and ZTE had made competing offers for an interim licence, with ZTE’s licence requiring FRAND terms to be those determined by a court in China.
London’s High Court ruled in Samsung’s favour on Wednesday, with Judge James Mellor saying that “ZTE have acted in bad faith with their wave of unnecessary injunctive proceedings”.
The judge added that “ZTE’s terms are designed to render this action (in London) pointless, so that Samsung effectively has to abandon it” in favour of accepting the outcome of ZTE’s lawsuit in Chongqing in southwestern China.
Samsung and ZTE did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
(Reporting by Sam Tobin)
