Court dismisses Deutsche Telekom's anti-trust complaint against IPCom

On May 31st, 2022, in a bench decision, Dr. Kircher, the presiding judge of the 2nd Chamber of the Mannheim District Court, delivered the verdict on Deutsche Telekom's antitrust complaint against IPCom regarding a 2013 license agreement. The judge announced the dismissal of Deutsche Telekom's complaint, with Deutsche Telekom being responsible for covering the legal costs.

Deutsche Telekom's argument revolved around IPCom allegedly abusing its monopoly position and the contention that the license agreement contradicted IPCom's commitment to providing licenses for its patents under fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory terms, especially since IPCom hadn't licensed its patents to its competitors in Germany. During the oral hearing in November 2021, much of the discussion focused on the implications of "clause 8.2" in the agreement, which stated that IPCom was not obliged to enter into license agreements with Deutsche Telekom's competitors.

IPCom extends its congratulations to its legal team from the Quinn Emanuel and Hengeler law firms for their exceptional work in successfully defending IPCom against this unnecessary legal dispute.

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About IPCom

IPCom GmbH & Co. KG is an intellectual property (IP) rights licensing and technology R&D company, which supports companies with asserting patent rights and concluding patent license agreements on FRAND (fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory) terms. IPCom holds over 200 patent families in the field of mobile communications, with more than 1,000 patents registered in Europe, the US and Asia, most of which have been granted. Committed to the principles of FRAND, fair play and competitive advantage, IPCom also offers consulting services to companies in the telecoms space, with the aim of levelling the playing field and ensuring those behind the development of standard essential patents (SEPs) are fairly rewarded for their technologies and work.

IPCom is headquartered in Pullach, Munich, Germany, and operates on a global basis.

http://www.ipcom-munich.com