2019年12月5日,美國聯邦巡迴上訴法院(CAFC)在TCL Communication Technology Holdings Ltd. v. Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson(TCL v. Ericsson)案[1],認定加州中區聯邦地院剝奪被告中國商TCL公司於審判中計算標準必要專利(SEP)授權費率時受美國憲法第七修正案[2]所規定應由「陪審團」審判的權利,因此判決撤銷地院判決並發回重審。
2014年3月,由於SEP授權費率談判破裂,TCL公司於加州中區聯邦地院提起確認之訴(declaratory judgment),訴請法院(the court)確認Ericsson公司自包含2G、3G、4G 的SEP均未提供「公平、合理且無歧視」(FRAND)的授權費率;同年6月,Ericsson公司則於德州東區聯邦地院提出相對應SEP的侵權之訴。2015年6月,上述兩訴訟合併由加州中區聯邦地院James V. Selna法官審理。
地院判決
2016年8月,TCL公司於訴訟審理中爭執SEP授權費率依時間縱向來看,實際包含(a)相當於[3]「被告應給付予原告之專利侵權的損害賠償金額(money for past patent infringement)」之「許可費(release payment)」,和(b)未來的被告,即專利被授權人,應給付予專利權人的「按產量支付的專利授權金費率」(running royalties rate)。其中,TCL公司認為至少許可費的計算應由陪審團審判(jury trial),而非由法官來裁決(bench trial)。然而,Selna法官否定了TCL公司的論點並,做出以下裁決:
認定「Ericsson公司於授權談判中所提供的授權費率要約並不符合FRAND原則」。
在TCL公司建議的費率計算方法之基礎上,藉由過去可比較的相似授權案例(comparable licenses),提出自己的「自上而下」(top-down)費率計算方法,其詳細且繁複的計算出TCL公司未來應給付Ericsson公司的SEP權利金費率。(詳細計算方式可參閱Selna法官於2017年12月做出的「事實發現備忘錄與法律結論」 (Memorandum of Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law) [4])。
判決出爐之後,即有論者批評,由於要符合FRAND原則的計算過程,較一般專利侵權損害賠償需要納入考量的因素複雜更多,將SEP授權費率交由陪審團計算,只會產生更多的不確定性。此外,經陪審團審判後的事實問題(question of fact),除非可證明陪審團的決定沒有受實質證據所支持或其是基於錯誤的法律進行判斷,而得於審判後聲請法院依法逕為判決(Judgment as a matter of law,JMOL),上訴後也基於美國憲法第七修正案的保障,法院無法再次針對授權費率重新審查。最後,陪審團審判不需要交代判決理由,判決後公布的法律文件所呈現的問題和答案可預期僅有如(1)系爭授權費率是否符合FRAND原則,和(2)授權費率應為多少等選擇或填空,使實務界難以窺見,遑論對每次陪審團於授權費率的形成過程進行分析,此對美國在計算授權費率的穩定架構與方法論演進有相當大的影響。[5]
TCL Commun. Tech. Holdings Ltd. v. Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson, 2019 U.S. App. LEXIS 36090
美國憲法第七修正案規定,任何價額超過20美金的爭執,均有受陪審團審判的權利。(The Seventh Amendment: “In Suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise re-examined in any Court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.”)
Ryan Davis, Fed. Circ.'s FRAND Decision Will Put Spotlight on Juries, Law360, https://www.law360.com/articles/1228218/fed-circ-s-frand-decision-will-put-spotlight-on-juries (December 13, 2019, 9:07 PM EST)
United States department Of Justice and United States Patent & Trademark Office, Policy Statement on Remedies for Standards-Essential Patents Subject To Voluntary F/Rand Committee, Jan. 8 2013, http://www.uspto.gov/about/offices/ogc/Final_DOJ-PTO_Policy_Statement_on_FRAND_SEPs_1-8-13.pdf.
United States department Of Justice and United States Patent & Trademark Office, 2019 Policy Statement on Remedies for Standards-Essential Patents Subject to Voluntary F/Rand Committee, Dec. 19 2019, https://www.justice.gov/atr/page/file/1228016/download. (“ all remedies available under national law, including injunctive relief and adequate damages, should be available for infringement of standards-essential patents subject to a F/RAND commitment,” “a patent owner’s promise to license a patent on F/RAND terms is not a bar to obtaining any particular remedy, including injunctive relief.“)
Michael T. Renaud, et al., Out with the old, and in with the new: joint policy statement and recent cases confirm that injunctive relief on standard-essential patents is available at the ITC, Mintz, December 23, 2019, https://www.mintz.com/insights-center/viewpoints/2231/2019-12-out-old-and-new-joint-policy-statement-and-recent-cases.