Summary
Recently, a federal district court in California granted partial
summary judgment for the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in an
important intellectual property and antitrust case involving
standard essential patents (SEP). The court's decision requires
an SEP holder to license its SEPs for cellular communication
standards to all applicants willing to pay a fair, reasonable and
non-discriminatory (FRAND) rate, regardless of whether the
applicant supplies components or end-devices. The decision
represents a significant victory for the FTC in enforcing its views
of an SEP holder's commitments to license patents on FRAND
terms.
In Depth
On November 6, a federal district court in California granted
partial summary judgment for the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC)
and ordered Qualcomm, Incorporated to license its intellectual
property for cellular communication standards to all willing
applicants. FTC v. Qualcomm, Inc., No. 17-cv-00220, 2018
US Dist. LEXIS
