Follow US investment immigration and listen to US immigration stories: Xu Kunlin, Director of the Price Supervision and Anti-Monopoly Bureau of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) of China, stated on the 19th that InterDigital, Inc. (IDC) has made a series of commitments to the NDRC. These include adhering to the principles of fairness, reasonableness, and non-discrimination in patent licensing for Chinese telecommunications equipment manufacturers, and ceasing the collection of discriminatory, high-priced licensing fees.
The company also pledged to stop bundling 2G, 3G, and 4G wireless mobile standard patents, fully respecting the choices of Chinese enterprises; to no longer require Chinese enterprises to grant it free licenses for relevant patents; and to opt for arbitration to resolve disputes over licensing rates and other terms before initiating patent infringement lawsuits against Chinese enterprises, rather than directly seeking to force Chinese companies to accept unreasonable rates through litigation.
The NDRC stated that it is currently studying whether these commitments can eliminate potential harm to market competition. The purpose of our enforcement is to ensure, through IDC's fulfillment of its commitments, that the licensing fees borne by relevant Chinese enterprises are fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory, to stop IDC from imposing unreasonable transaction conditions on Chinese enterprises, and to enable Chinese enterprises to participate in market competition fairly. Maintaining a fair and orderly market competition environment is the goal of our enforcement.
Lu Yanchun, Deputy Inspector of the Price Supervision and Anti-Monopoly Bureau of the NDRC, stated that they have recently received an application from IDC to suspend the investigation and have reviewed the specific measures proposed by the company for rectification. "Currently, we have accepted the application and are conducting a study, and we will make a decision as soon as possible in accordance with relevant legal procedures."
In May of last year, the NDRC received reports alleging that the US-based IDC had abused its market dominance by charging discriminatory, high-priced patent licensing fees to Chinese telecommunications equipment manufacturers, thereby excluding and restricting market competition. The NDRC launched an anti-monopoly investigation into IDC in June in accordance with the Anti-Monopoly Law.
InterDigital, Inc. is a US-based wireless technology development and patent licensing firm that owns a large number of standard-essential patents in the field of wireless communications. Telecommunications equipment manufacturers are required to obtain licenses from the company when producing and selling communication equipment.