“Amazon and Eero Infringe Huawei’s European Patent, Banned from Selling Wifi-6 Products in Germany”

In a significant legal development, two European subsidiaries of Amazon and Eero, a manufacturer of wifi routers owned by Amazon, have been found guilty of infringing European patent EP 3334112. As a result, they are now prohibited from selling Wifi-6-capable products in Germany. The ruling was handed down by the Regional Court Munich on December 15, the same day as the hearing.

The lawsuit was initiated by Huawei, which sought injunctive relief, information and accounting, destruction, recall, and damages (case ID: 7 O 10988/22). However, the ruling only impacts wifi routers that Amazon and Eero manufacture themselves, such as the Amazon Fire TV Stick 4k. Other manufacturers can continue to sell their products via the Amazon platform.

Huawei can enforce the judgment against a security deposit totaling €4.5 million. Amazon has the option to appeal against the judgment, and it is considered likely that they will do so. However, the court has not yet provided a written justification for its surprisingly quick decision. According to JUVE Patent information, Amazon has not yet filed an appeal.

If the ruling stands, Amazon would be required to compensate Huawei for the damages it has suffered since 19 March 2020. Amazon has not yet filed a nullity action against EP 112, but has focused on the FRAND defence.

This judgment is part of a larger dispute over Wifi 6 patents. Huawei has also sued Amazon over another Wifi 6 patent in Munich (case ID: 7 O 10987/22). The court will hear this case in March 2024. In Düsseldorf and Munich, Huawei sued Amazon over a Wifi 5 patent, but the courts have not yet set a date for the oral hearing.

Huawei is also taking action against Fritzbox manufacturer AVM with two infringement suits at the Regional Court Munich. In November, the court ordered AVM to cease and desist, stating that Wifi-6-capable AVM products infringed Huawei’s EP 3 337 077. AVM has since appealed against the ruling.

In addition, Huawei has sued other companies such as Netgear and automotive group Stellantis. Huawei sued Stellantis back in 2022 over mobile phone patents that play a role in car connectivity. The Netherlands-based company manufactures about six million cars a year under the Fiat, Opel, Peugeot, and Citroën brands.

While Huawei only sued Amazon and AVM in German patent courts, the Chinese company escalated its dispute with Netgear to the Unified Patent Court in July. Previously, Huawei had not had much success at Düsseldorf Regional Court. The court had dismissed one of Huawei’s lawsuits and suspended the second.

Huawei’s lawsuit at the Munich local division was one of the first SEP proceedings at the new court (case ID: ACT_459771/2023). According to the website www.upc.beetz.nl, Netgear recently filed a counter claim of revocation with the UPC.

A team led by Christian Harmsen for Huawei at the Regional Court of Munich obtained the judgment against Amazon and Eero. The Bird & Bird partner has a long relationship with the Chinese company. He was Huawei’s lead counsel in the dispute with ZTE, which led to the landmark judgment of the CJEU in Huawei vs. ZTE.

In Germany, Huawei also works with a team of lawyers led by Tobias Hessel. Hessel brought the client relationship from his old law firm Hoyng ROKH Monegier to Clifford Chance. He is leading the lawsuits against AVM and Netgear, among others.

As always, when Huawei is involved in patent litigation, the patent attorneys of Braun-Dullaeus Pannen Emmerling are involved. Fritz Emmerling’s team has conducted most of the proceedings for the Chinese group in the past. However, Huawei also works with Mitscherlich & Partner.

AVM and Netgear are defending themselves with Klaka and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer respectively.

Amazon relied on a mixed team from Hogan Lovells led by Munich-based partner Steffen Steininger and Benjamin Schröer. The firm has long-standing relationships with Amazon in both the UK and Germany. Hogan Lovells’ Munich based partner Steffen Steininger acted for Amazon in the German dispute over music streaming technology against Datascape.

A Hogan Lovells team around Steffen Steininger is representing Amazon also in a UPC case against Nokia.