IPCom

File:Pio Suh Managing Director.jpg

The company was founded in 2007 by German patent lawyers Bernhard Frohwitter and Christoph Schoeller in Munich, Germany. Shortly after, the name was changed to IPCom Beteiligungs GmbH and its headquarters moved to nearby Pullach.[https://www.unternehmensregister.de/ureg/result.html;jsessionid=0DD79D3F13EBC07756D7C96FE297A9BA.web03-1?submitaction=showDocument&id=411243 Company registry entry: IPCom Beteiligungs GmbH: changes], unternehmensregister.de, last retrieved 23 February 2022. The present IPCom GmbH & Co. KG was founded in 2009 as Profi-Start Beteiligungs GmbH[https://www.unternehmensregister.de/ureg/result.html;jsessionid=0DD79D3F13EBC07756D7C96FE297A9BA.web03-1?submitaction=showDocument&id=3653810 Company Registry: new entry Profi-Start Beteiligungs GmbH], unternehmensregister.de, last retrieved 23 February 2022. and changed its name to its current name in 2011.[https://www.unternehmensregister.de/ureg/result.html;jsessionid=0DD79D3F13EBC07756D7C96FE297A9BA.web03-1?submitaction=showDocument&id=7825722 Company Registry: Changes], unternehmensregister.de, last retrieved 23 February 2022. In July 2018 Pio Suh, a German attorney, was appointed as the new Managing Director of IPCom. At the same time, Frohwitter and Schoeller resigned as shareholders of the company. Under Suh's tenure IPCom settled long-lasting disputes with various smartphone manufacturers as well as with network providers.{{Cite web |last=Klos |first=Mathieu |date=2020-08-19 |title=IPCom undergoes major management restructure |url=https://www.juve-patent.com/news-and-stories/people-and-business/ipcom-undergoes-major-management-restructure/ |access-date=2022-09-08 |website=JUVE Patent |language=en-US}}

IPCom acquires and monetizes intellectual property rights, especially patents in the mobile communication sector. {{Cite web|title=IPCom {{!}} IP Consulting Company {{!}} Licensing Programs|url=https://www.ipcom-munich.com/licensing-programs|access-date=2022-02-23|website=IPCom|language=de}} 35 of which are considered standard essential patents (SEP).{{Cite web|title=IPCom {{!}} Intellectual Property (IP) Consulting Company|url=https://www.ipcom-munich.com/|access-date=2022-02-23|website=IPCom|language=de}} The company licences patents according to FRAND standards.{{Cite web|title=IPCom {{!}} IP Consulting Company {{!}} Patent Licensing|url=https://www.ipcom-munich.com/patent-licensing|access-date=2022-02-23|website=IPCom|language=de}} In the time of its existence, IPCom has filed numerous law suits for patent infringements (see section on law suits). In 2014, the company established its own R&D department.[https://www.unternehmensregister.de/ureg/result.html;jsessionid=0DD79D3F13EBC07756D7C96FE297A9BA.web03-1?submitaction=showDocument&id=27738314 Jahresabschluss zum Geschäftsjahr vom 01.01.2018 bis zum 31.12.2018], unternehmensregister.de, last retrieved 23. February 2022. Through ongoing R&D activity, IPCom has also developed its own global 5G patent portfolio, with numerous applications currently pending.[https://www.vanillaplus.com/2018/11/16/43472-will-monetise-ip-no-matter-much-costs-says-ipcom-managing-director/ We will monetise our IP no matter how much it costs, says IPCom managing director ]Vanilla Plus, George Malim In 2018, IPCom expanded its business activities with a new consulting service that assists companies in developing and monetizing patents.

In 2007, IPCom acquired a portfolio of mobile technology patents from Robert Bosch GmbH, with the financial help of Fortress Investment Group. This comprised more than 160 patent families in 2G, 2.5G, 3G and LTE technologies, 30 of which are SEPs covering the USA, Europe and Asia. Technologies covered in the portfolio span areas including interface, MMS and digital rights management, applications, synchronization and packet data transmission.{{cite news | url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-ipcom-htc/patent-firm-sues-german-retailers-over-htc-phones-idUSTRE7BL0RZ20111222/ | title=Patent firm sues German retailers over HTC phones | date=22 December 2011 | publisher=Reuters | first1=Christoph | last1=Steitz | first2=Tarmo | last2=Virki | accessdate=23 November 2019 }} One of the central patents is from the 100 family, called 100A (EP 1 841 268). 100A relates to controlling how UMTS mobile phones gain initial access to a network. Since 2007, IPCom has sued several communications companies over infringements of this 100A patent,{{Cite web|last=Klos|first=Mathieu|date=2020-02-19|title=How IPCom kept the mobile phone industry on tenterhooks for 13 years|url=https://www.juve-patent.com/news-and-stories/people-and-business/how-ipcom-kept-the-mobile-phone-industry-on-tenterhooks-for-13-years/|access-date=2022-02-24|website=JUVE Patent}} and other patent families.

Backed by Fortress, IPCom sued Nokia for patent infringement of 8 patent families for € 12 billion ($18 billion at the time) in 2008.{{Cite news|date=2008-01-30|title=Fortress-backed company sues Nokia over patents|language=en|work=Reuters|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/nokia-patents-idLTAL3084752820080130|access-date=2022-02-24}} The lawsuit was later settled under undisclosed conditions. Also in 2008, IPCom filed a lawsuit against HTC. The conflict dragged until 2022, when the opponents finally reached an agreement. The legal conflict encompassed several lawsuits in Germany, the United Kingdom and at the European Patent Office.{{Cite web|last=Klos|first=Mathieu|date=2022-01-21|title=IPCom settles 15-year SEP dispute with HTC|url=https://www.juve-patent.com/news-and-stories/cases/ipcom-settles-15-year-sep-dispute-with-htc/|access-date=2022-02-24|website=JUVE Patent}} IPCom eventually sued retailer MediaSaturn for selling HTC phones. Other lawsuits were filed against Deutsche Telekom, which were settled in 2013, when Deutsche Telekom paid "several 100 million euros" to IPCom.{{Cite web|date=2013-07-03|title=Patentverwalter: IPCom schröpft Telekom um hunderte Millionen|url=https://www.handelsblatt.com/unternehmen/dienstleister/patentverwalter-ipcom-schroepft-telekom-um-hunderte-millionen/8445124.html|access-date=2022-02-24|website=www.handelsblatt.com|language=de}} Another case that received media coverage was IPCom's unsuccessful lawsuit against Apple over € 1.6 billion in Germany.{{Cite news|date=2014-02-28|title=German court dismisses IPCom patent claim against Apple|language=en-GB|work=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-26387803|access-date=2022-02-24}} IPCom filed a patent infringement lawsuit at the District Court of Fuzhou, China putting Apple under great pressure due to its exposure in China where supposedly all of its smartphones have been manufactured. Finally, IPCom secured a settlement with Apple, allegedly with an "eight-digit sum" in 2022.{{Cite web|last=Bing|first=Zhao|date=2022-01-07|title=IPCom patent campaign against Apple in China appears to end with global settlement|url=https://www.iam-media.com/frandseps/ipcom-patent-campaign-against-apple-in-china-appears-end-global-settlement|access-date=2022-02-24|website=www.iam-media.com|language=en}} Other lawsuits concerned Vodafone, Lenovo, and Xiaomi.

Some of the patents have been invalidated by the courts,{{cite web|url=http://www.law.com/sites/articles/2014/02/28/freshfields-hogan-lovells-knock-out-ipcoms-patent-claims/?slreturn=20141110063719|title=Freshfields, Hogan Lovells Knock Out IPCom's Patent Claims|author=Jan Wolfe|work=law.com}} including the German Federal Patent Court. The 100A patent however was ultimately upheld by the Federal Patent Court in October 2019, dismissing a nullity action brought by Apple and HTC.{{Cite web|last=Schulze|first=Christina|date=2019-10-15|title=IPCom's 100A patent upheld at Federal Patent Court|url=https://www.juve-patent.com/news-and-stories/cases/ipcoms-100a-patent-upheld-at-federal-patent-court/|access-date=2022-02-24|website=JUVE Patent}}

IPCom's litigation practice evoked widespread criticism. Before 2007, "patent trolls" were a mostly north American phenomenon. With their lawsuit against Nokia, demanding an unprecedented 12 billion euros, IPCom was seen the first European patent troll. In the subsequent lawsuits, the company was repeatedly called a patent troll.{{Cite web|last=Warren|first=Tom|date=2014-02-28|title=German court dismisses $2 billion patent troll claim against Apple|url=https://www.theverge.com/2014/2/28/5456272/german-court-dismisses-ipcom-apple-damage-claim|access-date=2022-02-24|website=The Verge|language=en}}{{Cite web|last=Chicheportiche {{!}}|first=Par Olivier|date=2014-02-06|title=Le "patent troll" IPCom réclame 1,5 milliard de dollars à Apple|url=https://www.zdnet.fr/actualites/le-patent-troll-ipcom-reclame-15-milliard-de-dollars-a-apple-39797646.htm|access-date=2022-02-24|website=ZDNet France|language=fr}}{{Cite web|last=Best|first=Michael|last2=Mueller|first2=Friedrich LLP-Lisa L.|date=2014-02-24|title=Patent trolls: a view from Europe|url=https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=b3e33fad-bdc1-4224-be85-4f04cd5685f5|access-date=2022-02-24|website=Lexology|language=en}}{{Cite news|date=2013-07-03|title=Telekom zahlt Hunderte Millionen Euro an Patent-Troll IPCom|language=de|work=Der Spiegel|url=https://www.spiegel.de/wirtschaft/unternehmen/telekom-zahlt-hunderte-millionen-euro-an-patent-troll-ipcom-a-909323.html|access-date=2022-02-24|issn=2195-1349}} IPCom has always rejected these accusations.{{Cite web|date=2020-02-19|title=First days of IPCom: the battle with Nokia begins|url=https://www.juve-patent.com/news-and-stories/cases/the-battle-with-nokia-begins/|access-date=2022-02-24|website=JUVE Patent}} According to Germany-based legal magazine JUVE-Patent, IPCom founder Frohwitter made tactical mistakes during the first Nokia-trials, which made IPCom look too greedy and contributed to the company's bad reputation. JUVE-Patent editor Mathieu Klos believes that "IPCom has long since shed its dubious reputation as a patent troll".

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• {{cite web |title=Antitrust: Commission welcomes IPCom's public FRAND declaration (MEMO/09/549) |url=http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_MEMO-09-549_en.htm |website=europa.eu |publisher=European Commission |location=Brussels |date=10 December 2009}}

• [http://www.ipcom-munich.com Official web site]

Category:Telecommunications companies of Germany

Category:German companies established in 2007