Future of Patent Licensing Deals on the Line at Federal Circuit

The Federal Circuit will probe Tuesday whether a patent owner who gives the ability to sublicense a patent can still sue another for infringement in a case that could have implications for similar transactions.

Uniloc Luxembourg SA has suffered a series of district court losses in its infringement suits against Motorola Mobility LLC, Apple Inc., and Google LLC over its deal with a Fortress Investment Group affiliate. When Uniloc defaulted on a Fortress loan it used to pay for the lawsuits, it triggered a provision in the deal that ceded its patent sublicensing rights to Fortress.

Uniloc no longer had ...