Set-Back For IPCom’s Enforcement Efforts In Germany
Two different chambers of the Mannheim Regional Court have just delivered a significant blow to patent licensing firm IPCom. The court found that Apple and HTC do not infringe patents from an IPCom patent family by implementing the 3G/UMTS standard. IPCom had sought to extract €1.57 billion in damages from Apple alone, so the decisions represent a considerable set-back for IPCom’s campaign to monetise its portfolio of around 1200 patents linked to mobile phones and networks.
The IPCom patents concerned allow mobile phones to make emergency calls when the mobile network is overloaded. IPCom had presented the patents as standard-essential. The German court took a different view, with claim construction proved to be a key issue. The German courts can take a patent’s prosecution history into account when construing the claims, and both chambers of the Mannheim Regional Court took the view that a claim limitation including the word “bit” should be interpreted literally to distinguish the claims over earlier versions (subsequently narrowed during opposition) that referred, more generally, to “information”.
IPCom is expected to appeal both decisions.
In the meantime, Apple joined other industry giants such as Microsoft, Samsung and Google as a signatory to an open letter, addressed to European policy makers, highlighting what they perceive to be an increasing problem of patent troll litigation in Europe and urging caution in the drafting of the rules of procedure for the Unified Patent Court. Their concern is that the proposed bifurcated system may inadvertently create a patent troll’s paradise in which injunctions can be granted for invalid patents. While the German court’s dismissal of IPCom’s claims will be welcomed by many as demonstrating that patent trolls receive no easy ride in Europe, the open letter by Apple et al serves as a timely reminder that there is no room for complacency.
