UK court rules in favor of Samsung, ordering ZTE to pay $392 million, intensifying global patent dispute

On May 1st, local time, the High Court of the United Kingdom issued a first-instance ruling in a lawsuit between two telecommunications giants, requiring Samsung Electronics to pay $392 million for using ZTE’s mobile communication patents. The ruling has not yet taken effect, and both parties can appeal. In terms of amount, this figure is far below ZTE’s claimed FRAND offer of $731 million but higher than Samsung’s proposed cap of $200 million. This dispute originated from the failure to renew a cross-licensing agreement on patents after it expired in 2021. Unlike conventional patent infringement lawsuits, both companies are major holders of 4G/5G standard-essential patents (SEPs), and the core of the dispute revolves around: who should pay whom the net amount, how much should be paid, and which country’s court should decide. Samsung hopes the UK court will become the global rate center, while ZTE advocates for a ruling by the Chongqing court in China. This has led to litigation spreading across multiple jurisdictions, including the UK, Germany, China, Brazil, the United States, and the European Unified Patent Court (UPC), evolving into a “court battle.” (First Financial)