Two years after Volkswagen Group accepted a 4G license from Avanci, the auto giant has signed a 5G license with the patent pool. However, according to JUVE’s patent information, unlike from 2019 to 2022, there was no intense patent litigation prior to the current agreement.
Multiple brands in 5G
According to Avanci’s announcement, the Volkswagen Group has joined the Avanci 5G Vehicle program. The partnership includes all car, bus and truck manufacturing brands of the Volkswagen Group, including Audi, Bentley, CUPRA, Lamborghini, MAN, Porsche, Scania, SEAT, Škoda, Volkswagen and Volkswagen Trucks & Buses. will appear.
The deal with Volkswagen comes just seven days after another major automaker accepted the Avanci license. On February 13th, General Motors also joined the Avanci 5G Vehicle program.
“With the addition of Volkswagen Group brands, Avanci 5G Vehicle now has more than 25 vehicle brands and 60 licensors in our global one-stop shop,” said Laurie Fitzgerald, president of Avanci Vehicle.・Included as a participant in the solution.”
volkswagen long resistance
After years of negotiations, Volkswagen and Avanci have agreed that the German automaker will receive a 4G license in March 2022. Volkswagen had already obtained patent licenses for 2G and 3G in 2019.
Volkswagen was one of the companies that generally supported pool licensing solutions, but it took a long time for the two companies to conclude a 4G license. Nevertheless, the company engaged in lengthy negotiations with Avanci.
At the same time, patent pool members and automakers were at odds in Germany. For example, IP Bridge is known for filing a lawsuit against Volkswagen in the Munich District Court. During this period, other patent holders unrelated to Avanci also sued Volkswagen over their connected car patents.
Volkswagen also campaigned intensively for reform of so-called automatic injunctions in German patent litigation. Uwe Wiesner, head of the intellectual property division at the time, repeatedly publicly called for more exceptions and greater discretion for German judges when sentencing companies for patent infringement.
A new era begins
Current German patent law also incorporates some of these requirements. However, this change has not yet had a practical impact on German patent litigation. Under its current head of intellectual property, Silke Reinhold, Volkswagen appears less frequently in patent court.
Meanwhile, in early January, Network System Technologies filed suit against Texas Instruments, Audi, and Volkswagen in the Unified Patent Court for three counts of patent infringement. Unlike the earlier connected car wars, this case is not about cell phones, but semiconductor patents.
