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Tesla Wins UK Supreme Court Ruling to Revive 5G Patent Licensing Case

By  |  July 27, 2026
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Tesla has secured a significant legal victory in the United Kingdom after the country’s Supreme Court ruled that the electric vehicle manufacturer can continue pursuing its lawsuit over the licensing of 5G standard-essential patents (SEPs), reopening a case with potential implications for patent licensing practices in connected vehicles.

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    According to Reuters, the UK’s highest court overturned earlier decisions that had prevented Tesla from seeking a judicial determination of fair licensing terms from U.S.-based patent holder InterDigital and automotive patent licensing platform Avanci. The ruling sends the dispute back to the High Court for further proceedings.

    At the center of the case is Tesla’s effort to obtain a court determination of fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory (FRAND) licensing terms for patents considered essential to 5G telecommunications standards. Standard-essential patents are technologies that companies must license in order to comply with industry standards, with patent owners generally committing to offer licenses under FRAND conditions.

    Tesla filed the lawsuit in London in 2023 against InterDigital and Avanci, which administers patent licensing programs covering technologies owned by numerous companies, primarily for the automotive industry. Reuters reported that Tesla is seeking access to the patents ahead of introducing 5G-enabled vehicles in the UK market.

    The litigation has followed a lengthy procedural path. In 2024, London’s High Court dismissed Tesla’s request for a judicial determination of licensing terms while allowing separate claims challenging the validity of three InterDigital patents to continue. After losing an appeal before the Court of Appeal, Tesla brought the matter before the UK Supreme Court.

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    The Supreme Court concluded that participation in a patent pool or licensing platform does not eliminate a patent holder’s obligation to make licenses available on FRAND terms. Reuters reported that this finding formed the basis for allowing Tesla’s claim to proceed.

    The case also touches on broader questions surrounding competition and market access in industries increasingly dependent on standardized technologies. FRAND commitments are designed to prevent owners of standard-essential patents from using market power created by industry standards to impose unfair licensing conditions or restrict access to technologies that manufacturers require to build compliant products. Courts in several jurisdictions, including the UK, European Union and United States, have become important venues for resolving disputes over how those commitments should be interpreted and enforced.

    Patent pools such as Avanci aggregate intellectual property from multiple rights holders, allowing manufacturers to obtain licenses through a single agreement rather than negotiating separately with each patent owner. Supporters argue that the model reduces transaction costs and litigation, while some implementers have argued in various legal disputes that licensing platforms must still operate consistently with FRAND obligations to avoid limiting competitive access to standardized technologies. Those issues have attracted continuing attention from competition authorities and courts because connected vehicles, smartphones and other internet-enabled products increasingly rely on standardized wireless technologies.

    Source: Reuters