UK High Court Adopts FRAND Analysis of Analysis Group Academic Affiliate Justus Baron in Samsung v. ZTE

May 26, 2026

Testimony from Analysis Group affiliate Justus Baron contributed to a trial win for Samsung Electronics in patent litigation brought against ZTE Corporation and related entities in the UK High Court of Justice. The case centered on a dispute over the terms of a global cross-license for the use of both parties’ standard essential patents (SEPs) for 4G and 5G mobile-phone technology following the expiration of a prior patent license agreement (PLA). While Samsung claimed that ZTE’s prior PLAs with Samsung and Apple should form the basis of the FRAND price, ZTE argued that Samsung’s license agreements with patent owners Ericsson, Nokia, and InterDigital (ENI), were a more appropriate benchmark.

Dr. Baron was retained on behalf of Samsung to evaluate the validity of a quantitative patent count comparison of the ZTE and ENI patent portfolios. He found that the ZTE portfolio, with many China-only and single-office patents, was not sufficiently comparable to the more established and geographically broad portfolios held by ENI.

Noting that “Dr Baron’s views were well-reasoned and carefully and precisely presented,” Mr. Justice Meade accepted Dr. Baron’s conclusion that “ZTE’s portfolio…cannot be reliably compared to portfolios of other SEP licensors such as Ericsson, Nokia, and InterDigital” and that “patents that belong to geographically broad patent families…are substantially more valuable.” Consistent with Samsung’s argument, the judge determined that ZTE’s prior PLAs should form the starting point for the new license terms.