Major Sisvel AI hire; InterDigital/Amazon arbitration confusion; Chongqing Nokia v Samsung FRAND rate analysis; flawed data clouds EU proportionality debate; plus much more

Welcome to the latest edition of the Sisvel Insights weekly round-up, aggregating news stories, analyses and data points affecting the SEP world that have caught our eye over the past seven days.

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Last week was an exciting one for Sisvel, with the news that Willy Chang – previously Vice-President, Global Strategy and Growth at Via LA – has been appointed as the firm’s Head of AI Pools. Reporting to Chief Business Development Officer Jukka Nihtilä, Chang will be responsible for driving the development of licensing initiatives relating to AI and high-performance computing technologies. The projects that he will now lead on include the creation of a potential pool covering Ultra Ethernet technology. Sisvel issued a call for patents in this fast-growing area at the end of April.

Observing Sisvel’s long and successful history in networking and hardware, Chang stated that this “transitions extremely well to creating effective licensing programmes around AI infrastructure and HPC – something I am passionate about doing”. Nihtilä was equally enthusiastic: “There is a lot of potential in these areas, and having Willy on board will put us in the best position to maximise the opportunities we see.”

In other big news, an announcement that InterDigital and Amazon have decided to drop their high-profile video codec SEP-related litigation in favour of arbitration was followed by disagreement between the two parties over what had been agreed. Elsewhere, ip fray provided detailed analysis of the recent global FRAND rate decision by the Chongqing court in Nokia v Samsung; while IP Europe argued that flawed data produced by Ernst & Young in a study of the IP Rights Enforcement Directive conducted on behalf of the European Commission is skewing the debate on injunctions and proportionality in the EU.

Please note that the inclusion of a piece in the list below does not signify agreement with what is stated in the linked article – just that we believe it is of interest and worth flagging.

Market

Sisvel has announced the appointment of Willy Chang to lead the development of new programmes relating to AI and high-performance computing. Read more (Sisvel newsroom)

The Sisvel POS patent pool has now hit the 40 licensor mark, little more than a week after reaching 30. Read more (Sisvel newsroom)

It has been a busy and productive year so far for Nokia’s IP licensing business, reports Chief Licensing Officer Susanna Martikainen. Read more (Nokia blog)

Battery tech patent pool operator Tulip Innovations has settled litigation with automakers Nissan and Dacia ahead of a hearing in Munich. Read more (ip fray) 🔒

A new licensing vehicle has been established to monetise a portfolio of over 1,000 communications patents previously owned by Alcatel Lucent/Nokia. Read more (IAM) 🔒

Legal

An announcement that InterDigital and Amazon have agreed to end their litigation over video codec SEPs and resolve their differences through arbitration has become mired in confusion. Read more (ip fray). See also IAM 🔒

A recent ruling at the UPC’s Hague local division provides the court’s clearest endorsement yet of an “external eyes only” confidentiality regime in a FRAND case. Read more (ip fray)

Samsung has persuaded a state court in New York to invalidate a 2024 amendment to the VCL Advance pool licence terms. Read more (IAM) 🔒

Policy & Opinion

Flawed data in a European Commission study on the effectiveness of the IP Rights Enforcement Directive is distorting the proportionality debate in Europe. Read more (IP Europe)

Recent developments indicate that the Japanese courts are seeking to shake off their reputation as forums for SEP holders to avoid. The market will now decide whether they have succeeded. Read more (IAM) 🔒

A Member of European Parliament from Germany has urged more EU countries to join the UPC system. Read more (MLex)🔒

Strategy & Analysis

How the Chongqing Intermediate People’s Court arrived at an aggregate 5G royalty rate of 7.8–8.5% in its recent ZTE v Samsung decision. Read more (ip fray) 🔒

Huawei, Sony and Qualcomm are among the top owners of patents related to the MPEG-DASH streaming standard, a new report claims. Read more (IAM) 🔒

Avanci has made significant progress with its auto licensing operations in China over recent months. Read more (Michael Ma Substack)

WIPO’s recent report on FRAND valuation highlights numerous procedural obstacles and jurisdictional divergences that make it impossible for a single methodology to emerge. Read more (MLex)🔒

Data centres are becoming a focal point for IP scrutiny, with patent infringement claims relating to their operation growing in number. Read more (Morgan Lewis)