Today, the Second Circuit will hear argument in an important case on the extent that foreign injury (reduced foreign sales and closure of foreign plants) arising from foreign RAND breaches can have remedy in the U.S. based on their impact on U.S. commerce. The case, Lotes Co., Ltd. V. Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd.
Court dismisses USB-related antitrust and RAND licensing claims brought against Foxconn (Lotes v. Hon Hai)
A few months ago, we took note of a dispute in the Southern District of New York between two foreign makers of Universal Serial Bus (USB) products — Lotes and Hon Hai/Foxconn. You can read our prior post for more background on the dispute, but in summary, Lotes accused Foxconn of reneging on licensing commitments
RANDomness
- A few weeks ago, we noted comments made by Renata Hesse of the DOJ that questioned whether a standard-essential patent holder who seeks an injunction on a FRAND-encumbered SEP might violate Section 2 of the Sherman Act. In Law360, Wendy Fu takes a closer look at this interesting question.
- This past week, the Supreme
Catching up on…Lotes v. Foxconn RAND/antitrust dispute over USB 3.0 standard-essential patents
It’s no surprise that most of the attention being paid to standard-essential patent issues is focused on the companies involved in the “smartphone wars” — Motorola, Microsoft, Apple. Samsung, etc. But while these consumer product companies are of course affected by issues involving standard-essential patents, so too are their component suppliers. A lawsuit filed this past fall in the Southern District of New York by Lotes Co. against Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. and Foxconn over SEP issues relating to the Universal Serial Bus (USB) 3.0 standard is a great example of this. Here, we attempt to provide a brief overview of the issues in the Lotes-Hon Hai case.
Continue Reading Catching up on…Lotes v. Foxconn RAND/antitrust dispute over USB 3.0 standard-essential patents
Antitrust Deputy Assistant AG’s speech may foreshadow increased DOJ enforcement activities relating to standard-essential patents
It’s no secret that government agencies in the United States and abroad are paying more attention to standard-essential patent issues. More evidence of this trend came this past Friday, when Deputy Assistant Attorney General Renata B. Hesse of the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice delivered a speech at the Global Competition Review Antitrust Law Leaders Forum in Miami. Hesse’s speech makes it clear that FRAND licensing issues are a high priority for the DOJ’s antitrust division, and that the agency remains open to exploring new ways of enforcing FRAND commitments — potentially including pursuing standard-essential patent holders for violations of Section 2 of the Sherman Act (anticompetitive monopolies or attempts to monopolize).
Continue Reading Antitrust Deputy Assistant AG’s speech may foreshadow increased DOJ enforcement activities relating to standard-essential patents