Dispute background: In the automotive industry, Nokia offers standard-essential patent (SEP) licenses either through bilateral agreements or via the Avanci patent pool — though only cellular communications SEPs are available through the pool; Wi-Fi-related SEPs are exclusively licensed bilaterally.

Nokia launched a coordinated patent enforcement campaign against Geely over SEP infringement, infringement suits were filed in Unified Patent Court (UPC) (Mannheim Local Division and Munich Local Division) and Munich Regional Court I (Germany). Both courts subsequently issued anti-anti-suit injunctions (AASIs) in favor of Nokia.

The Munich Regional Court I had originally scheduled a hearing in the Nokia v. Geely case (Case No. 7O9322/25) for May 21, from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. The presiding panel has previously issued oral judgments at the close of SEP trial hearings on multiple occasions. Another automaker, Renault, recently reached an SEP licensing agreement with Broadcom because of enforcement related to a Munich court injunction.

Two other entities — from which Geely could have obtained cellular SEP licenses through Avanci — have also filed suits against Geely:

▪  IP Bridge: obtained a preliminary injunction in Brazil, though it was stayed by an appellate judge — who has previously had his decisions overturned by the full panel in two out of three related cases. As a result, Geely still faces litigation risk in Brazil, recent Brazilian court rulings in the Sun Patent Trust v. Great Wall Motor case can be a reference.

▪ Sun Patent Trust：filed a case with the Unified Patent Court.

The two anti-anti-suit injunctions (respectively from the UPC and the Munich Regional Court I) played a key driving role in this settlement. If Geely has not yet reached a settlement with Sun Patent Trust, given that the latter has ongoing litigation pending in the Ningbo Intermediate People's Court in China, Geely may need to apply for anti-anti-suit injunctions in response going forward.

From IPRdaily

May 22th, 2026