International Sanctions and the FRAND Framework

by Dennis Crouch

The English Patents Court has handed down its global FRAND determination in Samsung Electronics Co. v. ZTE Corp., [2026] EWHC 999 (Pat) (May 1, 2026), with Mr. Justice Meade setting a $392 million lump-sum balancing payment for a renewal cross-license between Samsung and ZTE (Samsung as the net payer because its mobile-phone sales dwarf ZTE's). The parties had already agreed that there should be a renewal of their 2021 portfolio license; what they could not agree on was the price. The court's task was therefore to determine the single global rate that would satisfy the FRAND obligation.

ZTE had asked for $731 million; and Samsung suggested substantially less.  The court eventually settled on $392 million.  The middle ground depended upon the court's application of "non-FRAND factors" -- particularly the impact of US export-control sanctions on ZTE's bargaining position. The court ultimately discounted the prior ZTE-Samsung 2021 and ZTE-Apple 2020 licenses because they were entered into in the shadow of the US sanctions imposed on ZTE beginning in 2018.

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