Can the TRIPS Agreement Apply to SEP Issues? A Critical Analysis of Global Royalties of SEPs under TRIPS

Date: June 26, 2025 (Thursday)

Time: 1pm – 2pm

Venue: Room 723, 7/F Cheng Yu Tung Tower, The University of Hong Kong

Speaker: Peicheng Wu (Zhejiang University 100 Young Professor, Zhejiang University Guanghua Law School)

Since the British landmark Unwired Planet v. Huawei decision, decisions of courts to determine global royalty rates for standard essential patents (SEPs) have sparked significant controversy. The Chongqing First Intermediate People’s Court in China for the first time determined the SEP royalties worldwide in OPPO v. Nokia, which led to the EU’s second complaint to WTO regarding China’s SEP enforcement measures. It raises questions about whether SEP disputes between WTO members can be solved under TRIPS Agreement, especially considering that TRIPS Agreement was established based on the characteristics of traditional patents. Through a detailed analysis of SEP cases in the UK, the US, and China, the nature of SEPs becomes clearer and reveals the “different essences under the same shell” of the approaches taken by these countries. It is suggested that a court-determined global royalty rate does not violate the territoriality principle of TRIPS Agreement inherently, but it should meet specific conditions to avoid issues such as forum shopping and race to court. At the same time, resolving SEP disputes within the current TRIPS Agreement framework is feasible by providing an expansive interpretation that aligns with the objectives and principles of the Agreement.

Dr. Peicheng Wu is the ZJU100 Young Professor at Guanghua Law School of Zhejiang University. His research focuses on comparative competition law, intellectual property law and digital law governance. He has published a range of articles regarding these fields in both English and Chinese. Peicheng obtained PhDs in Law from Shanghai Jiao Tong University and the University of New South Wales. Peicheng used to be a visiting researcher at Chicago-Kent College of Law (2014) and the University of Warsaw (2019). In 2018, he acted as an intern judge assistant at the IP Division of China’s Supreme People’s Court. He was also the winner of 2025 Antitrust Writing Awards: Academic Articles.

Moderator: Taorui Guan, Assistant Professor & Deputy Director of Law and Technology Centre, The University of Hong Kong Faculty of Law

To register, please go to https://hkuems1.hku.hk/hkuems/ec_regform.aspx?guest=Y&UEID=100056.

For inquiries, please contact Ms. Grace Chan at mcgrace@hku.hk / 3917 4727.