Recent action by China's State Administration for Market
Regulation ("SAMR") demonstrates renewed Chinese
antitrust focus on standard essential patents
("SEPs").
In an official press release dated June 27, 2024, SAMR warned
Avanci, a patent pool, of potential antitrust risks in its
licensing of SEPs for automotive wireless communication. Although
SAMR apparently has not yet launched a formal enforcement action or
reached a binding penalty decision, the warning letter urged Avanci
to review and strengthen its antitrust compliance and prevent or
rectify antitrust issues relating to its licensing
practices.
SAMR's warning letter to Avanci is a reminder that patent
licensing practices, especially for SEPs, remain a focus of Chinese
antitrust enforcement. This is not the first time China's
antitrust enforcers have turned their attention to SEPs; previous
high-profile enforcement actions involving SEPs
include InterDigital (2014)
and Qualcomm (2015).