It looks like Lenovo could be facing some serious financial consequences in the US. This is because the US International Trade Commission has found that Lenovo-owned Motorola Mobility has infringed upon patents owned by Ericsson. If the decision is upheld, it could result in a ban on US imports of Motorola phones.
Patent infringement
Companies own patents for all kinds of inventions and processes. This means that another company usually has to pay a licensing fee to use those ideas in their products or services.
Obviously, not everyone wants to pay these fees, which is why some companies either try to sneakily get around it, or come up with their own ways. Unfortunately, due to the similarities, patent infringement lawsuits can take place. This is what happened between Ericsson and Motorola, according to a report from Reuters.
Ericsson filed a complaint with the ITC back in 2023. The company alleged that Lenovo phones made by Motorola, like its Moto G, Edge, and Razr series, infringed upon its patents. These patents are related to wireless communications, a charge that Lenovo has denied.
Ericsson isn’t limiting its fight to just the US. The company has filed similar patent infringement lawsuits against Motorola in other parts of the world. This includes South America, the UK, North Carolina, Brazil, and Colombia. Ericsson has actually won the fight in both Brazil and Colombia. This resulted in a ban on the sale of Motorola phones.
Impact on Motorola phones
As is the case with most patent infringement cases, there is a chance that the Lenovo-owned Motorola phones could end up being banned from being sold. At least that’s until Lenovo and Ericsson reach some kind of agreement or settlement that would resolve the issue.
Motorola’s smartphones are pretty popular in the US. Unlike some of its competitors, Motorola has managed to weather the changes in the industry over the past few decades. The company holds quite a sizeable market share in the US. According to Counterpoint’s numbers, it is around 14% in Q3 2024. This means in the event that Motorola’s phones are banned in the US market, the results can be devastating, financially.
It wouldn’t be surprising if Lenovo were to try and appeal this decision. This would also mean that Lenovo can continue selling and importing its Motorola phones until it exhausts all attempts to appeal the decision. That is unless Ericsson were to file a temporary injunction to prevent that from happening.
