Research On Conflicts Of International Anti-suit Injunction In Foreign-related Standard-essential Patent Disputes

Courts worldwide frequently use Anti-suit injunctions(ASI)to compete for jurisdiction over standard-essential patent disputes,and the conflicts of ASIs in foreign-related standard-essential patent disputes are becoming increasingly fierce.Back in 2020,the Supreme People’s Court in China issued ASI in a standard-essential patent case in the form of a behavior preservation ruling for the very first time,causing conflicts on ASI for standard-essential patent disputes between China,EU,USA,Japan,and other countries and regions.Given the conflict of ASI in standard essential patent disputes,China’s existing legal norms are not yet able to deal with them well.Although the ASI plays a positive role in solving the international parallel litigation of standard essential patents,the patent hijacking and anti-hijacking caused by the ASI and the conflict of national judicial sovereignty also severely affect the process of patent standardization.Value conflict between standards and patents,the conflict of interests between standard-essential patentees and standard implementers,the limited judicial rationality of the country,and the failure of international comity might be the causes for the conflict of ASI in foreign-related standardessential patent disputes.To resolve the ASI conflicts in foreign-related standard-essential patent disputes,a negotiation framework for the integrity and efficiency of FRAND licenses for standardessential patents needs to be established.Further clarification of the applicable conditions,procedural remedies,and legal responsibilities of the ASI system in foreign-related standardessential patent disputes in China is also in need.The final step would be exploring the arbitration path to resolve foreign-related SEP disputes in practice.