UK Court of Appeal will deliver Unwired Planet v Huawei decision on 23 October 2018

The AmeriKat reading the 
Court of Appeal judgment

The AmeriKat frequently prowls the Daily Cause List (the list of scheduled hearings and decisions in the English Courts) searching for interesting IP hearings and decisions being handed down.  Although the Unwired Planet appeal hearing was in May, no sign of the Court of Appeal's decision was appearing in the Daily Cause List.  The overheated English summer saw no sign.  Nor did the first windy days of the new Court term.  But then, there it was.  On Friday afternoon, it appeared on the AmeriKat's screen as follows:

TUESDAY, 23 OCTOBER, 2018 in COURT 74, at 10.30, Judgment will be given in the following: APPEAL
From The Chancery Division
Patents Court
FINAL DECISIONS
A3/2017/1784 Unwired Planet International Limited and anr -v- Huawei Technologies Co. Limited and anr.

This will be an important decision for global FRAND/SEP litigation and strategy (see previous reports here).  One of the key issues on appeal from Mr Justice Birss'  decision was the extent of the English court's ability to determine global FRAND rates and licence terms and, accordingly, whether there is only "one" set of FRAND terms in any case.  Other issues, include whether Huawei had a Article 102 defence to Unwired Planet's claim for an injunction (and the Huawei v ZTE arguments that follow) and whether the "ND" in FRAND (i.e. non-discrimination) allows SEP holders to charge different royalty rates for similarly situated licensees.

The IPKat team will be back next week to report on the key findings of the Court of Appeal, with analysis to follow.