Today, the U.S. International Trade Commission issued its delayed decision on whether it would review ALJ David P. Shaw’s Initial Determination finding no violation of Section 337 in In the Matter of Certain Wireless Devices with 3G Capabilities and Components Thereof, Inv. No. 337-TA-800.  (For some background, see our previous post on the ALJ’s

As we noted last week, various non-parties have begun submitting statements on the public interest in connection with ITC Inv. No. 337-TA-800, In the Matter of Certain Wireless Devices With 3G Capabilities and Components Thereof.  Over the last several days, both the complainant InterDigital and each of the respondents (Nokia, Huawei, and ZTE) have

Earlier this week, the ITC issued the public version of ALJ David P. Shaw’s Initial Determination finding no violation of Section 337 in in In the Matter of Certain Wireless Devices with 3G Capabilities and Components ThereofInv. No. 337-TA-800 — the ITC’s investigation into InterDigital’s accusations that Huawei, Nokia, and ZTE infringed several

A month ago, we alerted you to ALJ David P. Shaw’s Initial Determination finding no violation of Section 337 in In the Matter of Certain Wireless Devices with 3G Capabilities and Components ThereofInv. No. 337-TA-800 — the ITC’s investigation into InterDigital’s accusations that Huawei, Nokia, and ZTE infringed several 3G-essential InterDigital patents.  Yesterday, the ITC finally released the public version of the ~450 page Initial Determination.

[337-TA-800 Initial Determination (PUBLIC)]

As we noted in our post on the parties’ respective petitions for review, while the ALJ found no infringement of any valid patent claims (and therefore no violation of Section 337), he did address the Respondents’ FRAND-related defenses — and made some interesting findings.  After the jump, we’ll take a quick look at these findings, which begin on page 417 of the Initial Determination.Continue Reading ITC releases public version of ALJ’s Initial Determination in InterDigital 3G patent case (Inv. No. 337-TA-800)

About a month ago, Administrative Law Judge David Shaw issued a Notice of Initial Determination in ITC Inv. No. 337-TA-800, concluding that InterDigital failed to prove that Respondents Huawei, Nokia, and ZTE infringed any valid patent claims that InterDigital asserted as essential to 3G cellular standards (several claims of one patent were found infringed, but

This past Friday, Judge Richard Andrews of the District Court of Delaware held a hearing on InterDigital’s motions to dismiss several FRAND-related counterclaims in three district court cases InterDigital brought against Huawei, ZTE, and Nokia over 4G-essential patents.  For a brief refresher on the issues raised in InterDigital’s motions to dismiss — which have been

On Friday, U.S. International Trade Commission Administrative Law Judge David P. Shaw issued a Notice of Initial Determination in In the Matter of Certain Wireless Devices with 3G Capabilities and Components Thereof, Inv. No. 337-TA-800.  This investigation was originally instituted nearly two years ago based on a complaint filed by InterDigital against Huawei, Nokia, ZTE, and LG, in which InterDigital accused the companies of infringing several InterDigital patents alleged to be essential to various 3G cellular communications standards.  The evidentiary hearing was held in January 2013, and the case involves the intersection of a two issues that have drawn a lot of attention lately — the assertion of standard-essential patents at the ITC (and what if any relevance FRAND licensing obligations have to the proceedings), as well as patent infringement cases brought by non-practicing entities (InterDigital is an NPE that has been deemed a “patent troll” by some, while others take a more favorable view of the company’s activities).

So far, it appears that InterDigital’s SEP infringement assertions have failed (at least for now).  While the public version of ALJ Shaw’s Initial Determination won’t become available for at least a few weeks, Friday’s Notice indicates that ALJ Shaw found no violations of Section 337 with respect to any of the seven remaining asserted patents. 
Continue Reading ITC rules against InterDigital’s claims of 3G-essential patent infringement in preliminary finding

FRAND issues are being hashed out in a lot of jurisdictions right now.  Microsoft and Motorola are warring in Washington state, Apple and Motorola are fighting at the Federal Circuit, and Apple and Samsung are awaiting the International Trade Commission’s upcoming ruling later this month.  Noted non-practicing entity InterDigital, meanwhile, has been trying

While InterDigital continues to press its claims of 3G- and 4G-essential patent infringement in the International Trade Commission against Huawei, Nokia, Samsung, and ZTE (Inv. No. 337-TA-868), the companies have also been fighting about FRAND-related issues in Delaware, where some of defendants have asserted FRAND-related counterclaims against InterDigital.  A few weeks back, we noted InterDigital had asked the court to dismiss Huawei and ZTE’s FRAND counterclaims, arguing that they were not ripe and were not properly pleaded, among other reasons.  Last Thursday, Huawei and ZTE filed their opposition to the motion to dismiss [LINK].
Continue Reading Huawei, ZTE tell Delaware court that their FRAND claims against InterDigital should not be dismissed

The standard-essential patent battle between InterDigital and Chinese handset makers Huawei and ZTE rages on in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware.  Recall that the parties are awaiting an Initial Determination in ITC Inv. No. 337-TA-800, and are also involved in Inv. No. 337-TA-868.  In the companion district court cases to the -868 investigation, Huawei and ZTE attempted to have the Delaware court expedite a determination of FRAND terms for InterDigital’s portfolio, an attempt that was rebuffed by the court.  But now, in motion filed yesterday, InterDigital seeks to have Huawei and ZTE’s FRAND-related claims dismissed altogether.  InterDigital argues that the FRAND counterclaims should have been asserted in an earlier litigation, are not ripe, and merely seek an advisory opinion.  InterDigital also claims that Huawei and ZTE have failed to allege the existence of an enforceable contractual commitment under the applicable law.
Continue Reading InterDigital asks Delaware court to dismiss Huawei, ZTE’s FRAND counterclaims