Lenovo Group Limited & Ors v Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) & Anor
[2024] EWHC 846 (Ch)
Motorola Mobility LLC & Anor v Ericsson Limited & Anor
23 May 2024
[2024] EWHC 1267 (Ch)
High Court
Lenovo sued Ericsson in the UK for patent infringement, hoping to use a UK court order to force Ericsson to drop lawsuits against Lenovo in other countries (Brazil and Colombia). The UK judge refused, saying that Lenovo's problems were not caused by Ericsson's actions in the UK, and that Lenovo could be compensated with money instead of an injunction. The judge stated that a UK court order could not be used to control legal proceedings in another country.
Key Facts
- •Lenovo sought an interim injunction against Ericsson for alleged infringement of UK patent EP (UK) 3,646,649 (EP 649).
- •The injunction was unusually structured, offering Ericsson three alternatives to avoid the injunction, all involving abandoning or not enforcing injunctions obtained against Lenovo in Brazil and Colombia.
- •Lenovo's goal was not to stop Ericsson's UK infringement but to leverage the injunction threat to pressure Ericsson to drop injunctions in Brazil and Colombia.
- •The dispute involved a long-running global licensing disagreement over Standard Essential Patents (SEPs) subject to Fair, Reasonable, and Non-Discriminatory (FRAND) terms.
- •Ericsson had obtained injunctions in Brazil and Colombia significantly impacting Lenovo's business.
- •Lenovo argued the injunctions in Brazil and Colombia put it at an illegitimate disadvantage in license negotiations.
- •Multiple other proceedings were ongoing in the US (EDNC and ITC) and the UK (two other FRAND cases).
Legal Principles
Principles for grant of interim relief (American Cyanamid test)
American Cyanamid v Ethicon [1975] AC 396; IPCom v Xiaomi Technology [2019] EWHC 3074 (Pat)
Adequacy of damages in FRAND cases
Unwired Planet International v Huawei [2017] EWHC 2988 (Pat)
Purpose of interim relief is to protect against injury not adequately compensated by damages
American Cyanamid v Ethicon [1975] AC 396
Interim injunctions must protect a legal right; they cannot be used as bargaining chips in separate jurisdictional disputes
Bremer Vulkan v South India Shipping [1981] AC 909
Outcomes
Lenovo's application for an interim injunction was dismissed.
Damages were deemed an adequate remedy for Lenovo. The losses in Brazil and Colombia were not causally linked to the alleged infringement of the UK patent. The application was an attempt to achieve anti-suit relief indirectly, which is not permissible.
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