The Mannheim Local Division of the Unified Patent Court (UPC) issued two decisions on 6 November permitting ZTE and Samsung to withdraw the patent infringement actions they had brought against each other, together with the defendants' counterclaims for revocation, and declaring the proceedings closed. Both decisions rest on Rule 265 of the Rules of Procedure and the parties' mutual agreement.
The two cases
- ZTE v Samsung (UPC_CFI_847/2024): ZTE Corporation sued Samsung Electronics and seven of its subsidiaries in Germany, Sweden, France, Italy, the Benelux, Portugal and Romania over European patent EP 3 577 874, and the Samsung companies filed a joint counterclaim for revocation (UPC_CFI_422/2025). The parties asked to withdraw during the interim procedure; the value in dispute is EUR 8 million for each action.
- Samsung v ZTE (UPC_CFI_188/2025): Samsung Electronics sued seven ZTE companies in Germany, Austria, Bulgaria, France, Italy, the Netherlands and Romania over European patent EP 4 096 288, and the ZTE companies filed a joint counterclaim for revocation (UPC_CFI_606/2025). The withdrawal was requested after the written procedure closed and before the oral procedure closed; the value in dispute is EUR 4 million for each action.
Both actions were withdrawn in full and every party said it did not seek a costs decision, so the court made none.
Samsung also asked for a proportional refund of 20% of the court fees, which was rejected. The court held that because the withdrawal application was filed after 1 January 2026, the version of Rule 370.9 in force since that date applies; Samsung had not withdrawn before the written procedure closed and had not argued that the conditions of Rule 370.9(c) were met.
The decisions only record that both sides agreed to withdraw. They say nothing about a global licence, royalty rates or how cases between the two companies in other jurisdictions will be handled.
J&C notes that whether part of the court fees comes back after a settlement at the UPC depends on when the withdrawal is requested and on the reimbursement rules in force since 1 January 2026. In Samsung v ZTE the request came after the written procedure had closed, and the 20% refund was refused.
Source: www.unifiedpatentcourt.org | www.unifiedpatentcourt.org
