Conversant scores a U.K. win against Chinese telecom companies

Strike a blow for intellectual property “management” companies. The High Court of Justice in London on Thursday rejected a jurisdictional challenge by Huawei and ZTE over the validity of patents held by Conversant Wireless Licensing S.à.r.l for mobile devices. The defendants had claimed that the proper jurisdiction for any suit would be China.

Conversant Wireless is subsidiary of Conversant Intellectual Property Management Inc., a company that has challenged global tech companies over basic technology. Conversant asked the court to declare that it had made a fair, reasonable, and nondiscriminatory (FRAND) offer to the two defendants. ZTE and Huawei argued against U.K. jurisdiction, and said that China, not Britain, was the proper venue.

The court disagreed with the assertions, saying that it did indeed have jurisdiction, saying that if it had not done so, FRAND agreements would be frustrated worldwide,