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SEP Disputes in EU Post Huawei 27102017CLEAN.pdf (841.96 kB)

The legal framework for SEP disputes in the EU post-Huawei: whither harmonization?

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journal contribution
posted on 2023-06-09, 12:18 authored by Nicolo Zingales
This article revisits the antitrust treatment of unilateral conduct in Standard Essential Patent (SEP) disputes in the EU, with particular focus on the landmark CJEU judgment in Huawei v ZTE and the way it has affected subsequent developments before national courts. It explains that while the court in Huawei significantly improved legal certainty both for SEP holders and their potential licensees, it also left open a number of crucial questions affecting everyday licensing practice. First, it is not entirely clear whether the liability of an SEP holder presupposes leveraging by a vertically integrated firm or can also arise in purely vertical or horizontal relationships. Secondly, the safe harbour procedure formu- lated in the judgment begs important questions concerning burden of proof and portfolio licensing, which have given rise to divergent interpretations. It follows that the space remains wide open for competing national and even regional approaches to the rights and obligations of SEP holders, calling for further European harmonization—be it judicially, legislatively, or administratively through the European Commission. In support of the latter measures, the article illustrates the limited remit of EU private international law rules in preventing the forum shopping which is likely to unfold as a result of a fragmented landscape for the resolution of SEP disputes, and the limited ability of the Unified Patent Court to ameliorate the associated fragmentation a.nd coordination problems.

History

Publication status

  • Published

File Version

  • Accepted version

Journal

Yearbook of European Law

ISSN

0263-3264

Publisher

Oxford University Press

Volume

36

Page range

628-682

Department affiliated with

  • Law Publications

Full text available

  • Yes

Peer reviewed?

  • Yes

Legacy Posted Date

2018-02-26

First Open Access (FOA) Date

2019-12-18

First Compliant Deposit (FCD) Date

2018-02-26

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