About Eeva Hakoranta
Eeva Hakoranta, Senior Advisor at Interdigital, spoke at the Licensing Executives Society International Virtual Annual Conference in May 2021. She discussed the impact of Chinese smartphone manufacturers on global patent licensing, stating that "out of the top 10 smartphone vendors, something like 7 or 8 are Chinese OEMs." Hakoranta said that "the Chinese government has been subsidizing its industry and has a very articulated five-year plan to become the dominating technology power and the economic power of the world." She described anti-suit injunctions and "jurisdictional grabs" as "a little unprecedented and unfortunately a very risky development for global standards and global business models."
Hakoranta argued that "it's not about bringing the suppliers to the discussion table; it's more about bringing the government to the discussion table." She expressed support for European court actions in the UK, the Netherlands, and Germany, saying that "we should be constraining holdout behavior because we can't afford to have holdout behavior." She added that "if patent holders are not getting the fair royalty, the reward for their innovation, it's not going to be very healthy for the standardization and the innovation activities."
Source: AI-verified profile updated from Eeva Hakoranta's recent appearances.
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Transcript (1 segments)
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Eeva Hakoranta0:14
So on the smartphone side of things, the question is not about the business model. It's a different question there. The issue is what's happening on the litigation front and the geopolitical front, where we unfortunately have, for instance, China not really playing with the same rules as other nations have been doing. What has been happening over the years is that the Chinese government has been subsidizing its industry. It has a very articulated five-year plan to become the technology power and the dominating technology power of the world and the economic power of the world. And what has been happening is that we have seen dramatic changes in the top 10 smartphone vendors. I think today we could probably say that out of the top 10, something like 7 or 8 are Chinese OEMs. So we have different dynamics there. It's not about bringing the suppliers to the discussion table; it's more about maybe bringing the government to the discussion table. And it's taking the form of these anti-suit injunctions and these jurisdictional grabs, if you will, which are a little unprecedented. And I think it's unfortunately a very risky development for global standards and global business models, because obviously we will have other nations which are not necessarily entirely happy about the rules being tilted this way. So what can we do in terms of regulation and what should the European Commission do? I think what's happening in the European courts, in the UK, in the Netherlands, in Germany, where a lot of patent cases are being tried, is actually exactly what we should be doing. We should be constraining holdout behavior, because we can't afford to have holdout behavior. Because if patent holders are not getting the fair royalty, the reward for their innovation, it's not going to be very healthy for the standardization and the innovation activities.
