FRAND Law on the Move in Two of the World’s Top Patent Venues

The past few weeks have brought two significant new rulings on standard essential patent (SEP) litigation in two of the world’s most notable patent venues. Most recently, China’s Supreme People’s Court (SPC) ruled in Oppo v. Sharp that Chinese courts may set the terms of global fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory (FRAND) licenses—the second time that a national court has asserted such jurisdiction since the UK’s Unwired Planet v. Huawei decision last year. One week prior, the Fifth Circuit affirmed the result of the first jury verdict to address a SEP owner’s FRAND compliance, upholding a judgment for Ericsson.