Delhi High Court Dismisses Ericsson's Plea Challenging CCI Orders

In a petition filed by Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (Ericsson) challenging two orders of the Competition Commission of India (CCI), the Delhi High Court (Court) has held that the jurisdiction of the CCI under the Competition Act, 2002 (Competition Act) to probe allegations of anti-competitive practices and abuse of dominance arising out of the monopoly granted by patent rights cannot be taken away even if the Patents Act, 1970 (Patents Act) provides for efficacious remedies inter alia in the nature of grant of compulsory licenses.

Ericsson had instituted a suit for patent infringement against Micromax and Intex (Defendants) for its Standard Essential Patents (SEPs) relating to 2G and 3G technologies. In an interim order, the Court allowed the Defendants to sell the allegedly infringing devices only after payment of a fixed royalty to Ericsson. Defendants separately filed a complaint before the CCI against Ericsson for abuse of dominant position by inter alia demand