Lenovo (United States) Inc., a part of the worldwide expertise company, Lenovo Group, filed a patent infringement motion on November 15th with the United States Worldwide Commerce Fee (ITC) in opposition to ASUSTeK Laptop Inc. and ASUS Laptop Worldwide (ASUS) for infringement of a wide range of Lenovo’s patents associated to software program, {hardware}, and connectivity throughout a number of ASUS merchandise. The motion is in response to ASUS’s August 2023 filings within the Regional Court docket of Munich associated to mobile applied sciences, the place Lenovo had provided a cross-licensing deal as an answer.
Lenovo is a powerful proponent of cross-licensing agreements, open and clear negotiations, and licensing throughout the trade on honest, cheap, and non-discriminatory (FRAND) phrases. That is evidenced by the Group’s ongoing litigation with InterDigital, the place it advocated for better transparency and fewer discrimination in licensing negotiations and was confirmed by the UK Court docket to be a prepared licensee. The motion in opposition to ASUSTeK displays the Group’s dedication to defending its vital contributions to expertise innovation and trade “firsts” over the previous 39 years, constructing a portfolio of over 28,000 patents with an extra 14,000 purposes pending.
Commenting on the patent assertion, John Mulgrew, Lenovo’s Deputy Basic Counsel and Chief Mental Property Officer, commented: “We really feel the time has come for us to say our patent portfolio extra actively – given its power and our place and expertise as each licensee and licensor – to attain better stability in licensing. More and more, we’re seeing some licensors bypass FRAND discussions and rely as an alternative on threats to extract inflated, supra-FRAND royalties from licensees. We expect the higher method entails mutual respect, openness, and equity, and outdoors help with FRAND if negotiations are at an deadlock. Whereas litigation is all the time Lenovo’s final resort, we do imagine we have to defend our mental property whereas persevering with to encourage transparency in licensing to allow ongoing funding in innovation and to make sure that clients world wide can profit from the proliferation of reasonably priced expertise.”
Lenovo invests US$2.2 billion yearly in analysis and growth, and just lately introduced an extra US$1 billion funding in AI innovation. It’s repeatedly acknowledged for its dedication to and excellence in innovation – rating #24 on Boston Consulting Group’s annual prime 50 ‘World’s Most Modern Firms’ listing and just lately profitable Time’s ‘Finest Innovations of 2023’ for the Yoga Ebook 9i and the Rollable Laptop computer.
Lenovo is represented on this matter by the worldwide legislation agency DLA Piper.
