UPC CFI 1131/2025

At the UPC: HMD Global Oy (15 cases)·Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft zur Förderung der angewandten Forschung e.V. (15 cases)

• 2026-08-24
  InfringementPublic

  Summary: The Hamburg Local Division held that HMD Global Oy's Android-9-and-later smartphones and tablets (Nokia/HMD brands) infringe claim 1 (direct) and claim 12 (indirect) of Fraunhofer's SEP EP 2 609 590, as maintained in the amended form of Auxiliary Request 1, rejecting HMD's FRAND and exhaustion defences because its insistence on a bilateral rather than pool licence, without placing a security, did not show genuine willingness to take a licence. The Court ordered a cease-and-desist injunction, recall and destruction of infringing products, an information/accounting order, an interim damages award of EUR 219,000 and a declaration of full liability for further damages. On the linked counterclaim for revocation (UPC_CFI_1131/2025), the patent was upheld in the Auxiliary Request 1 form and Defendant's exceeding revocation counterclaim was rejected.

  Show the legal issues (6)

  • FRAND defence to injunction under Art. 101/102 TFEU (SEP licensing)
  • Pool licence vs. bilateral licence: when an implementer may insist on bilateral terms, and how that bears on willingness to license
  • Patent exhaustion, Art. 29 UPCA
  • Limitation/time-bar under Art. 72 UPCA and §§ 195, 199, 203 BGB (suspension of limitation during settlement negotiations)
  • Temporal application of the UPCA to infringing acts spanning its 1 June 2023 entry into force
  • Counterclaim for revocation: patent maintained as amended (Auxiliary Request 1)

• 06acec68-4a74-45ea-8aa1-3211d925167a.pdf2026-08-24EN