SEP Enforcement Disputes Beyond The Water's Edge: A Survey Of Recent Non-U.S. Decisions

Originally published in Antitrust, Vol. 27, No. 3, Summer 2013, by the American Bar Association

Disputes regarding alleged abuses of standard-essential patents (SEPs) have become a frequent subject of litigation and regulatory investigations throughout the world. U.S. courts have recently issued important decisions in this area,1 which are explored in other articles in this issue of ANTITRUST. This article discusses several recent judicial decisions outside the United States addressing issues that can arise at the intersection of competition, patent, and contract law when patent holders seek to enforce patents they have declared essential to industry standards.

1 See, e.g., Microsoft Corp. v. Motorola, Inc., 696 F.3d 872 (9th Cir. 2012); Broadcom Corp. v. Qualcomm Inc., 501 F.3d 297 (3d Cir. 2007); Realtek Semiconductor Corp. v. LSI Corp., No. C-12-03451-RMW (N.D. Cal. May 20, 2013); Microsoft Corp. v. Motorola, Inc., No. 10-01823 (W.D. Wash. Apr. 25, 2013); Apple, Inc...