wordpress blog stats
Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

, , , ,

On FRAND’s And The Ericsson Vs Micromax Patent Battle – iPleaders

ipleaders

Recently, Ericsson approached the Delhi High Court, claiming that Micromax was violating several of its patents pertaining to 2G and 3G standards and wireless technology standards like GSM and EDGE when it imported certain mobile handsets – these handsets included series like the Funbook Talk, Canvas 2 and Ninja. On failure to negotiate acceptable licensing terms and conditions with Micromax even after 3 years, Ericsson approached the Delhi High Court and instituted a patent-infringement case against Micromax, claiming damages to the tune of Rs. 100 crores.

The irony of it all is that Ericsson no longer sells mobile phones. It transferred its mobile handsets business to a joint venture which is now wholly owned by Sony, and now deals exclusively in network infrastructure. However, it owns approximately 30,000 patents and has been on a spree to enforce its patents across the globe – besides Micromax, it has instituted similar litigation against Samsung (see here), ZTE (see here) and Acer (see here).

Patent infringement cases are expensive and can take a long time to be decided by court, so parties usually tend to explore options to settle by entering into licensing arrangements. In this case, since parties had not been able to arrive at a permanent licensing arrangement on commercial terms, the court requested them to enter into a temporary arrangement for licensing on Fair, Reasonable And Non-Discriminatory terms (‘FRAND’ terms) until it issues a final decision.

Unfortunately, talks for an interim arrangement to pay royalty on the basis of every handset that was imported failed too – so Ericsson requested an injunction on imports of such handsets from the court. Given that its business model involves generating revenues from licensing its communications standards-related technology, it is possible that Ericsson may have demanded extremely high rates. The High Court’s order (available here) does not mention what rate of royalty was acceptable to Ericsson, so we do not have a mechanism to evaluate whether it was actually fair or reasonable.

The injunctive relief granted by the court, however, has serious consequences for Micromax – Micromax cannot import the concerned handsets which allegedly violate Ericsson’s patent rights. Further, as per the court’s order, Ericsson can object to imports of handset consignments by Micromax. To ensure this, the court ordered customs authorities to notify Ericsson each time that Micromax imports handset consignments.

Indian law on patent licensing is still developing, and it could have gone either way for Ericsson – in another scenario, Ericsson could have been required to issue a license on FRAND to Micromax, since, in certain circumstances, courts may require licensing to a competitor, provided the patent pertains to a “market standard”.

Advertisement. Scroll to continue reading.

Why should an innovator be forced to license patented technology on FRAND terms?

Under normal circumstances, a patent holder is free to license his patents on any terms he wishes. Thus, he is free to negotiate exorbitant rates of royalty, or refuse to license the technology altogether.

However, if the patented technology becomes a market standard, a court may require the innovator to license it to other players on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory terms, since this is essential to ensure a level playing field. Such patents are called ‘Standard Essential Patents’. When is a technology considered as a market standard?

Consider a fast forward option in a DVD player as standard – a consumer will not be likely to buy a DVD player without this function. Such market standards also become essential to ensure inter-operability of products which is important from the perspective of both the consumers and the producers. Imagine that this option was patented by a specific company. What would happen if this company refused to license the technology to other DVD player manufacturers thereafter?

Technology standards can be developed by a company individually, or jointly by a group of businesses (for example, consider the Microsoft – Toshiba alliance to develop the HD DVD standard, or the USB Implementers Forum comprising, amongst others, Microsoft, Apple and Intel). When multiple businesses develop a standard jointly, they usually form a Standards Setting Body (SSB) or Standards Setting Organization (SSO), which adopts the standard once the development work has been completed.

The standard may or may not use patented technology – but what if it does? This is where it gets interesting. American courts have started requiring patent holders to license their technology to other market players, if it has become a market standard. Such license must be given on fair and reasonable terms which must be non-discriminatory (these terms are called FRAND terms in legal jargon). For example, if Samsung owned a market standard of a technology, it will not be allowed to charge LG and Micromax exceptionally high, or radically different rates of royalty.

Advertisement. Scroll to continue reading.

If a standards setting organization has already adopted a particular standard which comprises of technology that one or more members have patented, then there is clear evidence that the technology pertains to a market standard. Courts will more readily ask such patent holders to license their technologies to other players.

Indian courts tried to follow a similar line in the Ericsson – Micromax case, but failed when the companies failed to arrive at an agreement. Also, this is a new area in India, so there is lack of advanced jurisprudence on this issue.

Does the requirement of licensing on FRAND terms harm innovation?

Normally, if you own a patent, you can license it on terms that are convenient for you. You are free to charge exorbitant royalties, so long as the licensee agrees to pay them, of course. However, if you own a patent which has become a market standard, you may be required to issue a license to other suppliers on fair and reasonable terms.

Does this harm innovation? Probably not – the patent owner should be able to make up for the revenues due to the universal use and scale on which the technology will be adopted, since it has become a market standard.

Written by Abhyudaya Agarwal, Co-Founder, iPleaders and Roopali Adlakha, student from NUJS Kolkata.

Advertisement. Scroll to continue reading.

iPleaders conducts a diploma course in Entrepreneurship Administration and Business Laws with the objective of simplifying business law for entrepreneurs, managers, decision-makers, working professionals and lawyers, offered in collaboration with NUJS, Kolkata, one of the best law universities in India. Enrollments for the third batch of the course are now open.

Written By

Free Reads

News

Google is currently undergoing the necessary procedures for the leasehold land, which is presently under the ownership of the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation.

News

The pilot project for which is being launched in 19 cities this year, with a plan to launch a full-fledged rollout next year.

News

Using Google Photos the Israeli Army enhanced the facial recognition technology of Corsight AI which was made to identify Hamas associated people

MediaNama’s mission is to help build a digital ecosystem which is open, fair, global and competitive.

Views

News

NPCI CEO Dilip Asbe recently said that what is not written in regulations is a no-go for fintech entities. But following this advice could...

News

Notably, Indus Appstore will allow app developers to use third-party billing systems for in-app billing without having to pay any commission to Indus, a...

News

The existing commission-based model, which companies like Uber and Ola have used for a long time and still stick to, has received criticism from...

News

Factors like Indus not charging developers any commission for in-app payments and antitrust orders issued by India's competition regulator against Google could contribute to...

News

Is open-sourcing of AI, and the use cases that come with it, a good starting point to discuss the responsibility and liability of AI?...

You May Also Like

News

Google has released a Google Travel Trends Report which states that branded budget hotel search queries grew 179% year over year (YOY) in India, in...

Advert

135 job openings in over 60 companies are listed at our free Digital and Mobile Job Board: If you’re looking for a job, or...

News

By Aroon Deep and Aditya Chunduru You’re reading it here first: Twitter has complied with government requests to censor 52 tweets that mostly criticised...

News

Rajesh Kumar* doesn’t have many enemies in life. But, Uber, for which he drives a cab everyday, is starting to look like one, he...

MediaNama is the premier source of information and analysis on Technology Policy in India. More about MediaNama, and contact information, here.

© 2008-2021 Mixed Bag Media Pvt. Ltd. Developed By PixelVJ

Subscribe to our daily newsletter
Name:*
Your email address:*
*
Please enter all required fields Click to hide
Correct invalid entries Click to hide

© 2008-2021 Mixed Bag Media Pvt. Ltd. Developed By PixelVJ