Munich appeals court postpones key FRAND ruling in VoiceAge EVS v. HMD case with European Commission intervention

We don’t normally report on scheduling decisions, but the standard-essential patent (SEP) ecosystem eagerly awaits the ruling by the Oberlandesgericht München (Munich Higher Regional Court) in VoiceAge EVS v. HMD. It was originally scheduled for February 6, 2025, then postponed by two weeks to today, and has now been pushed back another four weeks to March 20, 2025.

The hearing took place on Halloween and showed that the appeals court is struggling with how to decide on a prayer for injunctive relief in a SEP case. It is impossible to know whether the reason for the delay means the court is having second thoughts about its original idea of making the grant of an injunction solely dependent on whether or not an implementer provides collateral. Both sides explained why they do not agree with that approach, and the lower court has meanwhile also expressed its doubts.

A referral to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) would be the best way forward, but the regional appeals court does not have a formal obligation to do so: only the Bundesgerichtshof (Federal Court of Justice) does.

Nokia is suing payment terminal maker SUNMI, a Xiaomi-Alibaba joint venture, in the Unified Patent Court (UPC) and two German national courts, and has obtained anti-antisuit injunctions (AASIs) from the UPC’s Munich Local Division as well as the Munich I Regional Court.