Google was also named as a defendant in the case but settled before trial.
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But a judge has ruled in favour of Unwired Planet after a hearing in a Patents Court – which is part of the High Court – in London.
Electronics giants Huawei and Samsung have lost a High Court fight with a little-known American company over a piece of technology said to be essential to the 4G mobile phone communication system.
“We have no desire to litigate, and we believe that results like this one will minimise the need for further litigation with other potential licensees”.
As reported in the Digital Journal, this is the first of five UK Patent infringement trials which have been scheduled to continue into the summer of 2016.
Unwired Planet has 16 employees and its only real assets are more than 2,000 patents, most of which were acquired from Ericsson AB in 2013. The company said it is also involved in a sixth trial scheduled for October 2016 that is related to commercial law questions of how to apply “fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory”, or “FRAND”, licensing principles to the standards-essential patents.
Teksler commented: “In the commercial case, we are working to provide the court with the comprehensive licensing framework it needs to establish the parameters of what constitutes FRAND for licensors and licensees alike”.
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Today’s ruling “goes a considerable way towards validating the Unwired Planet portfolio”, the company’s general counsel, Noah Mesel, said in a statement. “This clarity will be immensely valuable to the industry”. The value of those patents remains uncertain because it depends on the outcome of lawsuits and negotiations with phone makers over fees Unwired Planet charges to use the technology.
