you mean this one
Lenovo Accused Of Infringing 5G IP, Stalling FRAND Talks
By Henrik Nilsson · Listen to article
Law360 (October 12, 2023, 9:11 PM EDT) -- Swedish telecommunications company Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson has sued Lenovo and its subsidiary Motorola Mobility, alleging the Chinese company infringes patents related to 5G technology and refuses to engage in negotiations to secure a fair patent licensing deal, according to the suit filed in North Carolina federal court.
Ericsson said Wednesday that mobile phones manufactured by Motorola infringe on four Ericsson patents related to 5G technology. But Lenovo's alleged history of infringement and refusal to take a license on Ericsson's technology goes back at least 15 years, according to the complaint.
"Ericsson has filed a number of lawsuits against Lenovo and its subsidiary Motorola Mobility for patent infringement in multiple jurisdictions," an Ericsson spokesperson told Law360 in an email Thursday. "Despite our best efforts, we have been unable to reach agreement on the terms and scope of a license, and both Lenovo and Motorola Mobility are using our technology without a license."
Specifically, the patents asserted in the suit concern encryption and wireless communication technology. Ericsson alleges that it notified Lenovo in 2022 that the patents are relevant to 5G, covering Motorola's mobile phone Moto Edge+ and Lenovo computers and tablets.
Ericsson asserts four counts of patent infringement, as well as breach of obligation to negotiate in good faith and breach of contract.
But Ericsson's quarrel with Lenovo dates back to at least 2008, when the Swedish company first became aware that Lenovo infringed on patents related to 3G technology, according to the suit.
Since then, Ericsson has made several fair, reasonable and nondiscriminatory, or FRAND, cross-licensing rate offers to Lenovo in accordance with global standards set out by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute, according to the suit. But the Chinese company has allegedly dodged Ericsson's negotiating attempts to avoid paying royalties for Ericsson's standard essential patents.
While Lenovo promised to respond to Ericsson's offers, the Chinese company repeatedly missed deadlines, and proposed an "unreasonably low, non-FRAND-compliant rate for a cross-license," Ericsson alleges.
"Lenovo USA's insistence that Ericsson accept an unreasonably low royalty rate, as well as Lenovo USA's strategy of delaying substantive negotiations, violates the condition of reciprocity," according to the complaint.
Additionally, Ericsson said that Lenovo has refused to sign a reasonable NDA that would allow the parties to have open and frank licensing discussions. Instead, Lenovo proposed a deal that would allow it to share Ericsson's confidential information with other companies and prevent the Swedish company from exercising its patent rights, the suit said. Lenovo also sought to retain its ability to file lawsuits against Ericsson in China, according to the complaint.
Ericsson alleges that Lenovo's stalling tactics and refusal to enter into an industry-standard NDA violates its FRAND commitment because it is "depriving Ericsson of its right as a third-party beneficiary to a license to Lenovo USA's, and its affiliated companies', Essential Patents on F/RAND terms."
"Lenovo cannot continue to benefit from its delay," Ericsson said. "In addition to finding Lenovo liable for infringing Ericsson's patents, Ericsson asks this court to resolve the dispute between the parties by declaring that Ericsson complied with its contractual F/RAND obligations and Lenovo did not."
Lenovo declined to comment on Thursday.
The patents-in-suit are U.S. Patent Nos. 10,425,817; 10,306,669; 11,317,342 and 11,515,893.
