The England & Wales High Court issues second landmark ruling in a FRAND royalty rates dispute (InterDigital / Lenovo)

On 16 March 2023, Justice Mellor J. of the England and Wales High Court issued a landmark judgment in case HP-2019-000032 between InterDigital and Lenovo, the second ever UK ruling to define global fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory (“FRAND”) royalty rates. The case was brought before a UK Court because the UK is one of two jurisdictions (the other being China) that so far has asserted competence to decide on FRAND terms without the consent of both parties. In essence, the case concerned the question whether InterDigital’s offer to Lenovo was FRAND and, if not, what terms would be FRAND. In his judgment, Justice Mellor awarded InterDigital a lump sum of USD 138.7 million for Lenovo’s use between 2007 and 2023 of InterDigital’s standard essential patents (“SEP”) contained in the