24 September 2014– Vringo Inc. has withdrawn another infringement claim against ZTE Corporation before the UK High Court of Justice Chancery Division court.
The patent in question (EP (UK) 1 808 029), relating to mobile communication standards, was asserted by Vringo to be one of its strongest Standard Essential Patent (SEP) claims in its patent portfolio, and a key part of the litigation battle the Non-Practicing Entity has instigated around the world against ZTE.
Vringo has now withdrawn its claim on two of the three patents it selected out of its portfolio in this case. This withdrawal features among a series of other positive developments in the UK proceedings as the court also ordered Vringo to pay substantial sums to ZTE in legal fees, and rejected their discovery request during the pre-trial phase.
"This latest development once again showcases the shortcomings of Vringo’s strategy. They are seeking injunctions on a portfolio of untested patents, before giving us a chance to engage in fair and meaningful negotiations. This withdrawal of yet another claim brought by Vringo demonstrates that even they recognize the weakness of some of these patents. We therefore believe the remaining patents should be properly tested court before any injunction is granted," stated Shen Jianfeng, Chief IPR Officer of ZTE.
ZTE believes that there is a worrying trend of patent trolls seeking to leverage their patent portfolio against innovative companies - using the threat of injunctions to demand broad-ranging portfolio licenses for untested SEPs. The European Commission has recognized the potential for such actions to constitute a breach of antitrust law, and on this basis ZTE has recently made a complaint to the Commission citing Vringo's behavior as illegal.
ZTE is a world-leading technology innovator, and both a licensor and licensee of IPR. According to the World Intellectual Property Organization, ZTE submitted 2,309 filings under the Patent Cooperation Treaty in 2013, the second-highest total globally. ZTE also ranked top in the WIPO’s PCT application tables in 2011 and 2012.
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