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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In early January, South Korean R&D institute Wilus – a licensor in the Sisvel Wi-Fi Multimode pool, as well as other programmes that we administer – was granted a preliminary injunction against Asus by the Munich Regional Court in a Wi-Fi-related dispute. The court’s full ruling found that both the Sisvel pool and the Wilus bilateral royalty rates offered to Asus were FRAND.

Last week, Wilus began enforcing the award by asking Asus to recall all infringing products and cease and desist from distributing them in Germany. “Enforcement of an injunction is always the very last option Wilus would want to take but we have a duty to our licensees – bilateral and via the Sisvel pool – to ensure there is a level playing field for them. Our door remains open to Asus and we hope we can resolve this dispute as quickly as possible,” said Wilus CEO and founder Jin Sam Kwak. Asus has the right to appeal. According to reports, the Taiwanese company, along with Acer, is also facing enforcement of a German preliminary injunction by Nokia in a HEVC-related dispute.

Elsewhere, Apple scored an important win in its long-running multi-jurisdictional litigation battle with Optis; and US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick ruled out a rumoured tax that would have seen the USPTO impose charges on patent owners based on the estimated value of their rights. Meanwhile, in Sisvel Insights, we explained our approach to patent acquisitions.

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

Fractus has announced the completion of a licensing deal with RPX covering connected safety devices. Read more (PRNewswire)

vivo has joined Avanci’s vehicle programmes as a licensor. Read more (Michael Ma LinkedIn)

Legal

Wilus has moved to enforce the Wi-Fi 6 SEP injunction it recently obtained in Germany against Asus. Read more (IAM) 🔒

Acer and Asus are reported to have halted PC and laptop sales in Germany after Nokia won an injunction against both companies in a HEVC SEP dispute. Read more (Tom’s Hardware)

A Texas jury has sided with Apple over Optis in a second retrial of the licensing company’s 4G SEP infringement claims. Read more (Reuters). See also ip fray

InterDigital has filed a slew of new video patent lawsuits and revealed that Samsung is challenging the $1.05 billion royalty payment set by an arbitration panel. Read more (IAM) 🔒

Wilus has moved to enforce the Wi-Fi 6 SEP injunction it recently obtained in Germany against Asus. Read more (IAM) 🔒

A federal judge in California has thrown out Samsung’s FRAND antitrust claims against ZTE. Read more (Law360) 🔒

Policy & Opinion

US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has told a Senate committee that the administration has dropped the idea of a value-based patent tax. Read more (IAM) 🔒

The EU has asked for a panel to be constituted in its WTO complaint against China over global FRAND rate-setting by courts. Read more (European Commission)

Recent USPTO initiatives may lead to a revival of interest in the US as a venue for SEP-related litigation. Read more (Law 360)

Gail Slater, the head of the DoJ Antitrust Division, has resigned. Read more (IAM)🔒

US billionaire Mark Cuban has said that the rise of AI will mean many companies will stop filing for patents. Read more (Times of India)

Strategy & Analysis

Sisvel’s dealmaking team uses strategic patent acquisitions to strengthen pool offerings and reduce fragmentation in the SEP landscape. Read more (Sisvel Insights)

New data from Ericsson builds a picture of how leading licensors are tackling tricky and fragmented IoT markets. Read more (IAM) 🔒

The economics behind InterDigital are best understood as a renewal-timed royalty stream backed by a living patent portfolio. Read more (LinkedIn Jim Harlan)

A written order has set out the detailed reasoning behind Judge Alan Albright’s ASI barring German adjudication of US patents. Read more (LinkedIn Erick Robinson)