The Regional Court of Munich rules in favour of an electronics manufacturer in a standard essential patent proceeding (Sharp / Daimler)

On 10 September 2020, the Regional Court of Munich (“Munich Court”) ruled in favour of Sharp that Daimler had infringed a standard essential patent (“SEP”) of Sharp. Sharp is the patent holder of EP 2667676B1 which is standard essential for the Long-Term Evolution (“LTE”) telecommunications standard. Sharp made a commitment vis-à- vis the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (“ETSI”) to grant a licence on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory (“FRAND”) terms to prospective users. Daimler manufactures vehicles that use telematic modules that rely on the LTE standard for connected cars. Daimler purchases the modules from various suppliers that joined the proceedings on the side of Daimler. The German Federal Cartel Office, along with a number of suppliers, had intervened in