UPC CFI 495/2025

At the UPC: Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft zur Förderung der angewandten Forschung e.V. (14 cases)·HMD Global Oy (14 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)
• 2026-06-01
  Infringement ActionPublic

  Summary: The judge-rapporteur summarized an interim conference held on 1 June 2026 covering both main infringement proceedings and counterclaims for revocation in UPC_CFI_494/2025 and UPC_CFI_495/2025. The order sets case values, admits and denies various submissions, admits Auxiliary Request III in UPC_CFI_495/2025, and dismisses the Defendant's request for a further opportunity to respond to the Claimant's FRAND submission.

  Show the legal issues (9)

  • claim construction of complex-valued upmix parameters (EP2380167)
  • validity and inventive step over prior art HLCC 7, 9, 10 (EP2380167)
  • infringement via MPS/USAC standard separate interpolation feature (EP2380167)
  • claim construction of 'input signal' and gradual separation (EP2609590)
  • priority validity over HLCC 4 disclosure (EP2609590)
  • validity challenges including HLCC 7 as prior art (EP2609590)
  • exhaustion defence based on AAC Patent License Agreement between Via and Google
  • FRAND defence including bilateral licence agreement and pool offer
  • admissibility of late-filed submissions under R. 36 RoP
• 2025-12-19
  Infringement ActionPublic

  Summary: Hamburg Local Division procedural order on HMD Global's request for production of licence agreements (R. 190 RoP) in Fraunhofer's SEP infringement action. The Court granted partial disclosure: HMD's request regarding the AAC Patent License Agreement with a named third party (whose identity is redacted) was granted subject to a confidentiality declaration, as Fraunhofer had consented. The request regarding a second bilateral agreement was not yet ripe for determination.

  Show the legal issues (4)

  • Production of licence agreements (R. 190 RoP)
  • FRAND / SEP (AAC standard)
  • Antitrust transparency obligation
  • Exhaustion of rights defence