InterDigital brought the lawsuit against Lenovo in 2019 over
the terms on which Lenovo should take a licence of its patents which are
essential to 3G, 4G and 5G standards.
The litigation, which has so far featured five separate
trials, centres on the fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory (FRAND) terms of
a licence for InterDigital's patents.
Judge James Mellor said in a written ruling on Thursday that
previous offers made by both Lenovo and InterDigital – which had offered $337
million for a six-year licence – were not made on FRAND terms.
He said Lenovo should pay a $138.7 million "lump
sum" to cover past and future sales of mobile devices from 2007 until the
end of 2023.
Lenovo described the ruling as "a major win for the
technology industry and the customers we serve".
John Mulgrew, Lenovo's chief intellectual property officer,
said in a statement the decision "reinforces FRAND's critical role in
facilitating transparent and equitable licensing practices for standardized
technologies".
InterDigital's Chief Legal Officer Josh Schmidt welcomed
what he said was the ruling's recognition that "a licensee should pay in
full for the past infringement of standard essential patents".
However, he said in a statement: "We plan to appeal, as
we believe that certain aspects of the decision do not accurately reflect our
licensing program."
London-based patent lawyer Mark Marfe, who was not involved
in the case, said the decision reinforced the High Court's willingness to grant
a global FRAND licence.
China is the only other jurisdiction where courts have set
global FRAND rates for so-called standard essential patents.
Marfe added that "all eyes will be on the Unified
Patent Court", a common patent court for European Union member states
which opens in June, to see whether it takes a similar approach. © Reuters
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