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In Acer Incorporated & Anor v Nokia Technologies Oy [2026] EWCA Civ 564, the Court of Appeal (Arnold LJ giving the leading judgment) ordered a permanent stay of "Fair, Reasonable and Non-Discriminatory" (FRAND) proceedings on case management grounds, cancelling the trial listed for June/July 2026. The Court held that, in making an "Adjustable Licence Offer" subject to a royalty to be determined by an arbitral panel, Nokia had fulfilled its FRAND obligations, leaving no FRAND defence available for Acer and ASUS. Importantly, the Court confirmed that such an offer does not compel arbitration but instead presents a consensual process.
It is noteworthy that the Court (Arnold LJ) identified several benefits of resolving (F)RAND disputes through arbitration, including resolution through a single tribunal rather than via multi-jurisdictional litigation, availability of global enforcement under the New York Convention while national courts are territorially limited, a consequent reduced risk of jurisdictional conflict, and determination by an independent and impartial tribunal under established rules (in this case the ICC). These factors weighed in favour of the Court's finding that an offer subject to arbitration was FRAND.
For more information, see the full post on our Intellectual Property blog here.
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