Tokyo District Court Grants Unprecedented Injunction in SEP Case
In a rare outcome, the Tokyo District Court granted a landmark injunction against Google on June 23, 2025, in a patent infringement suit brought by Pantech. It is unusual for the Japanese court to grant such relief; however, the facts of the case played an important role in reaching the result. Pantech’s asserted patent is classified as SEP and declared under FRAND terms.
The court recognized that once a patent owner makes a FRAND declaration an injunction is unavailable unless the alleged infringer refuses to negotiate licensing terms in good faith. No such good faith negotiation existed in this case as concluded by the court. Specifically, the parties had engaged in settlement discussions overseen by the court, but Google did not produce a requested proposal for royalty calculations that could form the basis of a fair licensing agreement.
Based on the refusal to participate in the licensing terms negotiation process, the court concluded that an injunction was necessary under these special circumstances given an unwillingness to obtain a license on FRAND terms. The injunction is provisionally enforceable, and we continue to monitor this case for future updates.
