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EU files telecom patent challenge against China at WTO

At the World Trade Organization (WTO), on Friday, the European Union (EU) filed a legal challenge against China for hindering European companies to protect their telecom technology patents.

The European Commission filed the challenge on behalf of the EU’s 27 members. and said

“EU companies were being deterred from going to a foreign court to safeguard their standard-essential patents (SEPs). Chinese courts had, since August 2020, been issuing “anti-suit injunctions”, which prohibit EU companies from going to foreign courts, with the threat of heavy fines as a deterrent,” said the Commission.

The Commission has also consulted the United States and Japan, whose standard-essential patent holders face similar challenges and which want to be setting global tech standards, rather than leaving this to Beijing.

“In a particular case, the fine was 130,000 euros ($147,758) a day, and the practice undermined the companies’ negotiations on licence fees with Chinese smartphone makers,” the EU executive said.

China said that it regretted the EU challenge and that it always upheld the multilateral trading system. The European Commission did not specify companies involved.

“The issue with China has been raised on a number of occasions without resolution,” the Commission said.

The bloc believes China is violating the WTO’s agreement on trade-related aspects of intellectual property rights (TRIPS).

CT Bureau

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