Koji Tomimoto, Shigeru Osuga, and Mitsuhiro Suzuki have published an article titled Japanese SEP litigation--from the 2014 Grand Panel decision to the 2025 Tokyo District Court's Pantech v. Google Case, 5/2026 GRUR Patent, pp. 239-43. Here is the abstract:
This article traces Japanese SEP/FRAND litigation from the 2024 Grand Panel decision in Apple v. Samsung, which set such a high bar for finding an "unwilling licensee" that it caused an eleven-year stagnation in Japanese FRAND disputes, to the Tokyo District Court's June 2025 judgment in Pantech v. Google, the first case in Japan in which an injunction against a FRAND-declared SEP was granted. The court found Google to be an unwilling licensee based on its refusal to disclose sales data and engage constructively in court-mediated settlement discussions. This article explains the judgment as a significant step toward aligning Japanese practice with global FRAND standards, which is further reinforced by the new Litigation and Mediation Protocols published by the Tokyo District Court in January 2026.
For previous discussion of Pantech on this blog, see my post "FRAND in Japan" here.
Also in this issue of GRUR Patent are an essaye by Dr. Henrik Holzapfel titled Die extraterritoriale Durchsetzung von Patenten—vom Kuriosum zum Königsweg? (Extraterritorial Enforcement of Patents—from Curiosity to Royal Road?"), and an article by Katalin Tözsér, Florian Schweyer, and Oliver Schön titled Europäische Gerichte als «worldwide super infringement courts« (“European Courts as ‘Worldwide Super Infringement Courts”). I have not read these yet, but since I am writing about extraterritoriality I plan to, and may have some comments here in due time. The issue also includes an article by Oliver Bäcker and Marc Berninger on the Munich Landgericht's January 8, 2026 decision in the FRAND dispute between Wilus and Asus, concerning, inter alia, the defendant's obligation to provide security.
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I will be taking a blogging break next week.
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