Interdigital Technology Corporation & ors (applicants) v Lenovo Group Ltd & ors (respondents)
Thursday 22nd September 2022
By Appellant’s Notice filed on 27 May 2022 the Claimants apply for permission to appeal the Order of Mr Justice Mellor (sitting as a High Court Judge) dated 29 April 2022 in which he declared a patent to be invalid; revoked it and dismissed their claim for infringement of it.
Background
This case was Trial B in a series of trials concerning five patents claiming inventions in the field of 3G and 4G telecommunications technology. This trial concerns EP(UK) 3,355,537 B1 (EP537 or the Patent). The Claimants seek to make the Defendants (‘Lenovo’) take a FRAND licence to their portfolio of mobile telephony patents said to be standard essential patents (SEPs). EP537 has a priority date of 29 April 2005 which is not contested. It is said to be essential to the UMTS (3G) standard, release 6 onwards (“the Standard”). Lenovo contend that the Standard does not require the patented method to be used. There is no dispute as to the requirements in the Standard and Lenovo’s non-infringement arguments resolve to points of construction of claim 1 of the Patent.