China’s system of “anti-suit injunctions” on the use of standards-essential patents (SEPs) contravenes World Trade Organization (WTO) rules on intellectual property (the ‘TRIPS’ agreement), a WTO appeal arbitration ruled on Tuesday 22 July.
In 2022, the EU opened a WTO dispute against Beijing, accusing it of preventing holders of standards-essential patents from enforcing them in courts outside China, through ‘anti-suit injunctions’ (see EUROPE B12627A12). At first instance,...