Key UK FRAND development with implications for UPC, German courts: EWCA to announce Xiaomi-Panasonic decision on Thursday

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/ipfray_frand-antisuit-activity-7246784243345874945-h4SL?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop

Key UK FRAND development with implications for Unified Patent Court and German regional courts:

On Thursday, the England & Wales Court of Appeal will hand down its decision on Xiaomi Technology's application for a declaration of an interim license to Panasonic's SEPs. This important ruling will therefore come down shortly before

- next week's UPC Mannheim Panasonic v. Xiaomi trial (technical merits on Monday (7th), FRAND on Wednesday (9th)),

- the Munich I Regional Court's Panasonic v. Xiaomi trial on next week's Friday (Oct 11), and

- the Mannheim Regional Court's Panasonic v. Xiaomi trial a week later (Oct 18).

The two most likely outcomes are either that the appeal succeeds, in which case there would be no basis to hold any more trials in that dispute outside the UK, or that the Court of Appeal, which expressed strong misgivings of Panasonic's gamesmanship, urges Xiaomi to seek an antisuit injunction. In this particular case, ip fray believes that such an injunction should not be a mere anti-enforcement injunction (as in all other SEP cases so far) but a more comprehensive antisuit injunction as there wouldn't even be basis anymore to seek damages.

ip fray will try to find out in real time or ASAP what the EWCA announces and will discuss the court's holdings and remedies or recommendations.