In one of the most important recent judgments for FRAND and SEP issues, the Supreme Court’s has strongly backed the High Court’s assessment of Unwired Planet’s multi-national portfolio of SEPs as being fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory (FRAND) and upheld the lower court’s determination of a royalty rate. The Supreme Court had considered two appeals by manufacturers (Huawei and ZTE) of wireless devices, who had sought rejection of the FRAND finding and the determined rate.

The new UK government has announced that the UK will not participate in the future Unified Patent Court (UPC) thereby abandoning the policy of Theresa May’s government to play a key role in the UPC. The Johnson government stated that its decision was based on the UK’s need to establish itself as a self-governing state, and the role of the CJEU in UPC proceedings.

Case: Shanks v Unilever (UK Supreme Court)

The UK Supreme Court has overturned earlier decisions by the Patent Office, the High Court and the Court of Appeal, ruling that an inventor-employee was entitled to the £2m of the benefits which his employer, Unilever, had obtained from a patent on his invention.