ACT 459771/2023
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- Verfahrensdetails
- Status—VerfahrensartVerletzungKategorieHauptverletzungsklage
- Parteien
- Division
- Munich LD
- Richter
- Matthias Zigann · Presiding Judge
- Technology
- Telecoms · Cellular/SEP
- Sprache
- —
- Erste Entscheidung
- 18. Dez. 2024
- 2024-12-18Endgültige UntersagungVerletzung (Hauptsache)Infringement Action
The Munich Local Division issued a landmark 161-page judgment in Huawei v Netgear finding infringement of Huawei's SEP portfolio patents and granting injunction, recall and destruction orders against Netgear entities across Belgium, Germany, Italy, Finland, France and Sweden, alongside a declaration of liability for damages; counterclaims for revocation were partially successful but did not defeat infringement for all claims.
Rechtsfragen:SEP/FRAND infringementexhaustion defenceIEEE Bylaws FRAND obligationCJEU Huawei v ZTE criteriainjunction proportionality Art. 63 UPCAcounterclaim for revocationSchadenersatz: Haftung festgestellt, Höhe vorbehalten - 2024-12-18Endgültige UntersagungVerletzung (Hauptsache)Infringement Action
The Munich Local Division issued a landmark 161-page judgment in Huawei v Netgear finding infringement of Huawei's SEP portfolio patents and granting injunction, recall and destruction orders against Netgear entities across Belgium, Germany, Italy, Finland, France and Sweden, alongside a declaration of liability for damages; counterclaims for revocation were partially successful but did not defeat infringement for all claims.
Rechtsfragen:SEP/FRAND infringementexhaustion defenceIEEE Bylaws FRAND obligationCJEU Huawei v ZTE criteriainjunction proportionality Art. 63 UPCAcounterclaim for revocationSchadenersatz: Haftung festgestellt, Höhe vorbehalten
- 2024-12-18%20UPC_CFI_9-2023%20-final%20DE%20redacted%20signed%202.pdf2024-12-18DE
- 2024-12-18%20UPC_CFI_9-2023%20-final%20DE%20redacted%20signed%202_0.pdf2024-12-18DE
Huawei sued Netgear entities for infringement of its SEP portfolio across six UPC member states (Belgium, Germany, Italy, Finland, France, Sweden). The Munich Local Division issued a 161-page judgment finding infringement and granting injunction, recall, destruction and damages liability, while partially accepting a Qualcomm-modem exhaustion defence. The court held that Huawei satisfied its FRAND obligations by offering at least one compliant licensing path (bilateral or pool), and that Netgear's FRAND/competition law defence failed because Netgear had not made a concrete, timely counter-offer with adequate security as required by the Huawei v. ZTE framework.
Patent proprietor satisfies FRAND obligations by offering at least one licensing path (bilateral or pool license) that meets competition law requirements
KlägerRechtsgrundlage: Art. 102 TFEU; Huawei v. ZTE (CJEU)Hinweis: The court held that where the patent holder has made at least one still-acceptable offer (bilateral or pool), the infringement action cannot be dismissed on FRAND grounds even if one offer is disputed.
FRAND competition law defence is only available to an implementer who has made a concrete counter-offer without delay and provided adequate security
KlägerRechtsgrundlage: Art. 102 TFEU; Huawei v. ZTE paras. 66-67 (CJEU)Hinweis: The court held that a defendant can invoke the Huawei v. ZTE defence against injunction/recall/destruction only if it has itself made a concrete FRAND counter-offer without delay, provided adequate security, and given information on the extent of use.
Exhaustion defence applies only to Qualcomm-modem equipped products placed on market in EU during specified period
BeklagterRechtsgrundlage: exhaustion doctrineHinweis: The court accepted a partial exhaustion defence for Qualcomm-modem equipped products, carving them out from the injunction/recall/destruction orders.
Huawei's claims are barred by IEEE Bylaws / Letter of Assurance commitments (prohibition on suit)
BeklagterRechtsgrundlage: IEEE Bylaws 2007Begründung: The court rejected the argument that the IEEE Bylaws / LOA barred Huawei from bringing the infringement action; offering a pool license satisfies contractual LOA commitments.
Exhaustion defence applies to all accused product variants
BeklagterRechtsgrundlage: exhaustion doctrineBegründung: The exhaustion defence was accepted only for Qualcomm-modem products proved to have been first placed on market in the EU during the specified period; it did not cover all accused embodiments.
Weitere Fälle zu diesem Grundsatz ansehen.