Intellectual Ventures case in France comes to an end

In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, it was the most high-profile case in France: the major hearing between Intellecutal Ventures and the defendants Orange, Bouygues Telecom and SFR was live-streamed. The Paris courtroom was attended by virtually every prominent lawyer in the French patent sector. Intellectual Ventures worked on the case with a team led by Julien Fréneaux of Bardehle Pagenberg. For a long time, it was the flagship case of the Paris office.

The NPE Intellectual Ventures had brought a claim based on its EP1 694 020, which protects a multi-carrier modulation system and method. Intellectual Ventures claimed it is essential to the ADSL standard and filed lawsuits against the defendants. The three major telecommunications companies named as defendants had brought in numerous intervenors. These included ECI Télécom, which was taken over by US-based software company Ribbon Communications, as well as Infineon, Lantiq, Huawei, Sagemcom, ZTE, and Sercomm as third-party defendants.

No further telecoms cases expected

The NPE lost at first instance, and the Court of Appeal upheld the judgment. The Court of Appeal declared the patent invalid and not infringed.

Julien Fréneaux

However, much time has passed since then. Whilst Intellectual Ventures had long since concluded its litigation in Germany, the case in France remained pending until June 2026. Now the French courts have also reached a final decision — without the plaintiff securing a victory.

Intellectual Ventures brought proceedings against many companies in this case. In the most recent case pending before the Cour de Cassation (appeal no. K 24-21.173), the parties involved were Orange, Sagemcom Broadband, ZTE France, Sercomm, Infineon, Intel, Huawei, Ribbons and ECI Télécom.

The Cour de Cassation dismissed the appeal without giving specific reasons, as it was clear that it would not lead to a reversal. It ruled that Intellectual Ventures must pay a total of €5,000 to Sagemcom, Orange, and Sercomm, and a further €5,000 to Intel, Infineon, and ZTE France.

For the Paris patent court, this was one of the largest telecommunications cases of recent years. At present, it seems unlikely the French courts will hear similarly extensive disputes in the telecommunications sector in the near future.