FRAND battle between Huawei and TP-Link now focused at UK High Court

According to the UPC register, Huawei has withdrawn its infringement claims against TP-Link at the UPC. A source at Huawei confirmed the withdrawal of the claims against TP-Link as a logical step after UK High Court judge Richard Meade determined the amount of the interim licence.

Huawei had sued TP-Link in summer 2025 at the UPC local division Munich (case ID: UPC_CFI 804/2025) and at Munich Regional Court (case IDs: 7 O 11043/25 and 21 O 11045/25). Huawei is also suing the implementer at Chinese courts.

Higher rate than expected

In February 2026, Meade awarded an interim licence to Huawei. It was the first time the court had granted an interim licence to an SEP holder. Meade awarded Huawei significantly more money than implementer TP-Link had proposed, stipulating that the amount must be calculated using the “mid-point method”. This corresponds to the average of the amount requested by Huawei — based on the rack rate approach and its standard licence rates — and the lump sum of $12 million proposed by TP-Link as the lower limit.

Richard Meade

Meade then intended to determine the exact amount at the so-called form of order hearing, which took place on 12 March. However, it was already clear beforehand that the basis for the calculation would increase further. During the proceedings, it emerged that TP-Link achieves high sales figures with so-called “mesh products”, which are likely to include wifi repeaters.

Consequently, both TP-Link’s lump sum and Huawei’s offer had to be adjusted upwards to account for mesh product sales. JUVE Patent learned from a source that the calculation now covers the period from the start of sales in 2008 up to April 2027. It also covers all sales of all TP-Link’s wifi devices. Meade set the rate following the form of order hearing but the exact amount remains confidential.

Focus on the UK

Following the conclusion of the interim licence Huawei could withdraw its infringement cases. As a result, only the FRAND-rate-setting proceedings at the UK High Court will continue. For now, there will be peace between Huawei and TP-Link until February next year. Judge Meade will then set the actual FRAND rate in the main proceedings.

The judge is currently hearing the second rate-setting case in which patent holder Nokia had agreed to accept a RAND rate from the UK High Court. Nokia and the two streaming providers Warner Bros and Paramount had not been able to agree on a RAND rate and appealed to the court. However, in contrast to Huawei vs TP-Link, this is not about an interim licence but an interim payment. The parties and Richard Meade have been negotiating the amount for four days now.

Another detail distinguishes the two proceedings. Unlike Huawei, Nokia withdrew its infringement claims at the UPC and Munich Regional Court before the interim payment trial.

A Bird & Bird team led by Richard Vary and William Warne represents both Nokia and Huawei. In Germany, Bird & Bird partner Christian Harmsen was responsible for the Huawei lawsuits. A WilmerHale team around London-based partner Annsley Ward represents TP-Link. In the UPC case, TP-Link relies on Klaus Haft from Hoyng ROKH Monegier.