MPEG LA enforces court verdicts against Huawei and ZTE for patent infringements

MPEG LA is enforcing a court decision against two technology companies Huawei and ZTE for infringing on patents. The court decision is being enforced pending an appeal.

MPEG LA, provider of one-stop licenses for standards and other technology platforms, announced in November 2018, that patent holders in its AVC/H.264 Patent Portfolio License have enforced verdicts of injunction in a German District court (“Landgericht Dusseldorf”) cases finding that Huawei Deutschland GmbH (“Huawei”) and ZTE Deutschland GmbH (“ZTE”) infringed patents by their use in mobile phones that implement the AVC/H.264 (MPEG-4 Part 10) Standard.

Two separate suits were brought against the companies. In both cases the Court of Appeals (“Oberlandesgericht Dusseldorf”) has dismissed Huawei’s and ZTE’s requests for an immediate stay of the enforcement while the cases are under appeal.

The court has ordered, Huawei and ZTE to cease and desist from offering in Germany AVC/H.264 compliant devices such as smartphones and tablets that use the enforced patents. In addition, all such products in their possession or the possession of third parties must be recalled and destroyed.

Commenting, Larry Horn, President and CEO of MPEG LA, said; “Although the failure to be licensed has made these enforcements necessary, taking a license under the AVC patents would easily remedy it, and we continue to welcome Huawei and ZTE to do so.”

Validity cases related to the patents in suit are pending before the Federal Patent Court in Munich, Germany (“Bundespatentgericht”).