China’s recent global FRAND determination in ZTE v. Samsung has attracted attention because it valued ZTE’s SEP portfolio at nearly twice the level of a contemporaneous English court decision. This article argues that the more important issue is not the royalty rate itself, but the methodology used to measure technological contribution. The Chongqing court relied heavily on declared SEP-family shares, portfolio metrics, territorial weighting, and other quantitative indicators that are closely associated with longstanding Chinese innovation policies encouraging patent accumulation, standards participation, and portfolio expansion. By comparing the decision to earlier Chinese FRAND jurisprudence, the English Samsung decision, USPTO research, and broader debates over Chinese patent statistics, the article explores whether these metrics accurately measure technological contribution or instead reward portfolio scale and geographic concentration. The case may signal an important shift in Chinese FRAND adjudication from disputes over the meaning of FRAND to a deeper debate over how FRAND value itself should be measured.
Post-Filing Data in Chinese Pharma Patents: Why It Took So Long — and What Finally Worked
Recently, the Supreme People’s Court of China (SPC) upheld a decision of the Beijing Intellectual Property Court reversing a China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) invalidation decision and confirming the validity of Novo Nordisk’s semaglutide compound patent. Although the final written decision has not yet been publicly released, official summaries indicate that the court accepted post-filing experimental data where “the technical effect can be derived from the original specification” (技术效果可由原说明书得出), reversing an administrative invalidation decision. Public reporting further indicates that the dispute turned on whether CNIPA would accept post-filing experimental data demonstrating semaglutide’s surprising pharmacokinetic effects in animal models, where the application as filed contained no experimental data.
October 8: Testifying on PERA From A Comparative Perspective
The US Senate Committee on the Judiciary, Subcommittee on Intellectual Property will be holding a hearing on October 8, 2023 at 2:30 PM EST on “The Patent Eligibility Restoration Act – Restoring […]
Insights on the China/EU TRIPS Dispute: DS/611
I will be a discussant on the recent WTO arbitral decision in DS/611 before a virtual meeting Friends of the Multilateralism Group (FMG). The FMG brings together WTO Ambassadors (past and present), retirees […]
The WTO’s Arbitral Decision on Chinese SEP Practices in DS/611: Getting Closer to the Right Kind of Decision
On July 21, 2025, the arbitrators in DS/611 (the EU complaint regarding Chinese SEP practices) made their decision on the appeal from the initial panel decision. From my perspective, this decision was […]
The “Five Big Offices” Meet – Minus One
The “Five Big Offices” (五大局) met in Tianjin, China, on May 27, 2025. The Five Big Offices are known in English as the IP-5, consisting of the five largest patent offices in […]
US-China Tech Competition Workshop And Other Events
Asia Society is hosting a virtual workshop on US-China tech competition on February 4, 2025. In addition on February 6, 2025, Pomona College is hosting a lecture on the challenge of translating FRAND into Chinese.
House Judiciary Committee Holds Hearing on Patents, Standards and Lawfare
On December 18, 2024, I was honored to testify before the House Judiciary Committee, Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property and the Internet. These hearings were on “IP and Strategic Competition with China.” […]
Some Observations on SAMR’s New Antimonopoly Guidelines for SEPs
SAMR’s new Antimonopoly Guideline for SEPS suggests possible new enforcement pathways for the agency, including areas that may be of concern to foreign licensors.
USPTO Cancels 3100 Patent Applications Due to Falsified Signatures
USPTO has canceled 3100 patent applications in a fraudulent scheme that is similar to prior actions taken against Chinese originating trademarks that benefitted from subsidies.
