UK’s Supreme Court dismisses Huawei and ZTE patent appeals

LONDON: The United Kingdom’s Supreme Court on Wednesday unanimously dismissed appeals by China’s Huawei and ZTE in patent disputes over mobile data technology with Unwired Planet International and Conversant Wireless.

The first appeal concerned an action brought by Unwired against Huawei for the infringement of five UK patents, which Unwired had acquired from Ericsson and were said to be essential in mobile telecoms.

An English court had previously ruled that two of the patents were valid and essential, and in a subsequent trial found Unwired’s licence terms were justified and enforceable.