First UPC FRAND trial just ended in Mannheim

https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7249481360497594368

The first FRAND trial in the Unified Patent Court (Mannheim LD) has now ended. The final part was behind closed doors and people get to go home.

Apparently there's serious doubt as to whether the patent is valid and standard-essential, in which case FRAND won't be reached at this point, but maybe in connection with some other SEP Panasonic is asserting against OPPO. (Xiaomi Technology is off the hook thanks to a UK appellate decision.)

The Mannheim LD may apply Huawei v. ZTE in a manner that is (at least arguably) consistent with the European Commission's amicus curiae brief in VoiceAge EVS v. HMD, analyzing the SEP holder's offers prior to the implementer's counteroffer. There was a split within the Mannheim Regional Court over that question, with Presiding Judge Professor Peter Tochtermann being in favor of sequentiality while his colleague Presiding Judge Dr. Holger Kircher departed from sequentiality even prior to the Federal Court of Justice ruling in Sisvel v. Haier.