Huawei was sentenced to "ban on sales" in the UK, and it suffered the consequences of its fight against UPI for the third time

　　In the past two months, Huawei has encountered "bad news" in the global patent battlefield. Let's follow the automotive electronics editor to learn about the relevant content.

　　In a series of patent wars with Samsung, although it won the first instance in the Quanzhou Intermediate Court, resulting in Samsung having to pay 80.5 million yuan in compensation and 22 mobile phones being banned from sale, in another battle involving a patent case accepted by the Shenzhen Intermediate Court, Samsung "invalidated" an important patent through the invalidation procedure.

　　In addition, on the British battlefield, in the confrontation with Unwired Planet International (hereinafter referred to as " UPI "), Huawei can be said to have "tasted" the bitter fruit three times.

　　After its request for patent invalidation was rejected and patent infringement was confirmed, Huawei also received a "sales ban order" in the UK.

　　Recently, the Patent Court of the England and Wales High Court ruled on the standard essential patent licensing dispute between Huawei and UPI : 1) a "sale ban order" was issued for Huawei's infringement; 2) Huawei was required to pay £2.9 million in compensation; 3) Huawei was allowed to appeal in terms of global patent licensing, and UPI was allowed to appeal in terms of hybrid global benchmarks .

　　At this point, the patent dispute that began in March 2014 finally came to a conclusion after three years.

　　Although the court did not support UPI's proposal on the patent licensing rate standard, allowing Huawei to benefit, Huawei still needs to pay a corresponding price in terms of infringement determination and sales ban.

　　Simply put, Huawei phones will not be sold in the UK market until Huawei and UPI officially sign a patent licensing agreement.

　　After three years, Huawei was sued for 6 patent infringements and 2 patents were confirmed to be infringed

Huawei was sentenced to "ban on sales" in the UK, and it suffered the consequences of its fight against UPI for the third time

　　In March 2014, UPI sued Huawei, Google, Samsung and others in the UK Patent Court, claiming that the three companies infringed on six patents it held, five of which involved standard essential patents related to 2G, 3G and 4G.

　　From October 2015 to July 2016, the six patents involved in the case were divided into five groups and technical tests and comparisons were carried out separately.

　　The High Court of England and Wales confirmed in its judgment that the evidence in the case showed that Huawei infringed the two patents EP (UK) 2 229 744 and EP (UK) 1 230 818 held by UPI.

　　It is worth mentioning that the two patents confirmed to constitute infringement are both standard essential patents in the field of communication technology, and both were purchased by UPI from Ericsson.

　　Subsequently, the six patents involved in the case were divided into five groups for corresponding technical testing. At the same time, Samsung and Huawei also filed a counterclaim against UPI for abuse of intellectual property rights.

　　Appeal rejected: Huawei's dispute with UPI changes from "many to one" to "one to one"

Huawei was sentenced to "ban on sales" in the UK, and it suffered the consequences of its fight against UPI for the third time

　　Although UPI initially sued Huawei for patent infringement for a total of six patents, as of now, only two patents have been found to constitute infringement.

　　During the course of the case, Huawei and Samsung once filed a counterclaim against UPI for abuse of intellectual property rights.

　　However, in the summer of 2016, UPI and Samsung reached a settlement, and Samsung withdrew from the patent war with UPI. Google, which was sued at the beginning, reached a settlement with UPI as early as 2015.

　　This means that what was originally a joint fight between the Android camp including Google, Samsung and Huawei and UPI has finally become a "lone battle" for Huawei.

　　During the course of the case, Huawei also filed a request for invalidation of the patent in question.

　　On April 12, 2017, the England and Wales Court of Appeal ruled to dismiss Huawei's appeal against the court's refusal to revoke the EP (UK) 2 229 744 patent held by Unwired Planet International (hereinafter referred to as "UPI").

　　Victory in defeat: UPI's initial licensing fee proposal to Huawei was "discounted" by the court

Huawei was sentenced to "ban on sales" in the UK, and it suffered the consequences of its fight against UPI for the third time

　　During the patent licensing negotiations between UPI and Huawei, UPI's licensing rate standards or plans changed several times.

　　In July 2014, the licensing fee rates offered by UPI were: 0.2% (4G) and 0.1% (2G\3G).

　　In June 2015, Huawei launched a patent licensing plan that was limited to the UK, with rate standards of: 0.034% (4G), 0.015% (3G) and 0 (2G).

　　On April 5, 2017, in response to the dispute between the two parties over the licensing rates for standard essential patents, the Patent Court of the High Court of England and Wales ruled that the four patent licensing plans proposed by UPI from April 2014 to August 2016 and the three patent licensing plans submitted by Huawei from June 2015 to October 2016 did not comply with the principle of "fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory licensing".

　　At the same time, regarding the global patent licensing rates of both parties, the court recommended that the mobile phone rates in major markets such as the United States and Europe be: 0.052% (4G), 0.032% (3G) and 0.064% (2G); the mobile phone rates in China and other markets be: 0.026% (4G), 0.016% (2G and 3G).

　　Therefore, from the results, although the licensing fee rate in the UK market is higher than Huawei's expectations, it is only 25% of UPI's original plan, which is equivalent to a 40% discount, while the rate standard in other markets such as China is equivalent to a 20% discount.

　　Encountering a sales ban: Time is running out for Huawei and UPI to reach a comprehensive patent licensing cooperation

Huawei was sentenced to "ban on sales" in the UK, and it suffered the consequences of its fight against UPI for the third time

　　On June 7, 2017, the Patent Court of the England and Wales High Court ruled that 1) a "sales ban" was issued for Huawei's infringement, 2) Huawei was required to pay 2.9 million pounds in compensation, and 3) Huawei was allowed to appeal in terms of global patent licensing, and UPI was allowed to appeal in terms of hybrid global benchmarks.

　　The decision was made following a hearing on May 19, 2017.

　　Among them, the "ban" will remain valid before Huawei and UPI reach a patent licensing cooperation. Even if Huawei appeals the judgment, it will not affect the effectiveness of the "ban".

　　Simply put, for Huawei, it is imperative to reach a patent licensing cooperation with UPI as soon as possible, otherwise it will suffer greater losses in the UK market.

　　Huawei's 2016 annual report shows that the European, Middle Eastern and African (EMEA) region benefited from the increase in the smartphone market share, achieving sales revenue of RMB 156.5 billion, a year-on-year increase of 22.5%. Among them, Huawei's terminals achieved a leapfrog breakthrough in the European market, with market shares in Northeast Europe and Western Europe exceeding 15% and 10% respectively, and maintained a leading market share in some parts of Northern Europe.

    The above is an introduction to the automotive electronics industry - Huawei was "banned from sale" in the UK and "tasted the bitter fruit" of its third fight against UPI. If you want to know more relevant information, please pay more attention to eeworld. eeworld Electronic Engineering will provide you with more complete, detailed and updated information.