Xiaomi destroys KPN patent with Bardehle in first instance

Xiaomi has prevailed at the German Federal Patent Court in its SEP dispute with KPN. The court has revoked a patent belonging to the Dutch telecommunications group.

The Dutch telecommunications group KPN accuses Xiaomi of infringing its EP 2 291 033 with some of its smartphones and sued the Chinese mobile phone manufacturer at Düsseldorf Regional Court in April 2022 (case no. 4b O 26/22).

EP 033 protects a telecommunications network and method for time-based network access. According to KPN, the patent is essential for the LTE and NR mobile communications standards.

Infringement case suspended

Xiaomi responded in October of the same year with a nullity action against the German part of EP 033 before the Federal Patent Court in Munich. Then, in September 2023, the court indicated in a qualified notice that it considered the property right to be likely invalid. Previously, the EPO had upheld the patent in a modified form in opposition proceedings initiated by Oppo.

As a result of the qualified notice, Düsseldorf Regional Court’s Chamber 4b suspended the parallel infringement proceedings.

The Federal Patent Court heard the nullity proceedings at the beginning of August. The court had combined these with a further nullity action filed against EP 033, this time by Orope. As a result, the 4th Nullity Senate under judge Sabine Werner declared the patent invalid due to lack of inventive step.

The judges thus confirmed the preliminary assessment (Ref. 4 Ni 88/22 (EP)).

According to JUVE Patent information, KPN will appeal the judgment. This means that the parallel infringement proceedings at Düsseldorf Regional Court remain pending.